I'm writing this to make an appeal to every single person in Oklahoma. On March 31, educators, parents and students will make their way to the Oklahoma State Capitol to demonstrate on the lack of support education is getting from our state. We've finally decided that talking about education and how much they )legislation) support it is not enough - they (legislators) need to actually act on it. It's time to make education a PRIORITY! And folks, YOU have to be the ones to make it happen - they're tired of hearing from educators, not to say they ever did listen nor do they believe us. Please make an appearance and speak your mind on this issue!
Unfortunately, this gathering is already under attack - which tells me we're on the right path. We're being called greedy, selfish and that we are harming the children and their parents. Here are a couple of quotes taken from A View From the Edge blog....
“It’s indefensible for government entities to use government resources
to lobby government for more taxpayer money for more government. It’s also extremely inappropriate for government entities to pressure
their employees to take time away from their important duties to lobby
for money for that entity.” Rep.
Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie.
I assume this is in response to teachers asking for more money per child, or maybe even teacher raises, as well as taking one single day away from our "important duties" to, you know, ask for support for our "important duties" from those holding the purse.
“This sort of behavior should not be tolerated by our schools or any
other state agency participating in this gross abuse of your hard-earned
money,” State Rep. Mike Turner, R-Oklahoma City
Ok, so this is how I'm hearing this - Shame on you, teachers! How dare you complain about how education is being ran in this state? THE TAX PAYERS ARE PAYING YOUR SALARY!!!! You should stay in your classrooms and send letters to us instead of wasting our time! (Then we can ignore your letters much easier!)
Ok, I laughed out loud....Sorry for the all caps, it's just that we teachers hear that one ALL the time from people not in education. 1. We'll make up the day we go, lol and 2. I'm a taxpayer in this state as well as every teacher, administrator and staff person attending. So your point?
Once again, Barresi, in her infinite educational experienced "wisdom" has said, and this time about the Tulsa Public School District, when asked why so many of the schools in Tulsa "earned" a D or an F on the state school district report card:
“They [TPS] have been failing for decades. When you keep doing the same
thing over and over and expecting a different result, that is a sign of
insanity. For years and years, kids in poverty and kids in chronically
low performing schools were hidden. Now we’ve shown the light on it.
These teachers should not feel stressed. They should feel supported.” Dr. Janet Barresi, DDS, State Superintendent, Oklahoma DOE 2014
(For those of you unaware, Barresi and the TPS have had a running battle waging for more than a couple of years. They have actively stood against Barresi many times and in fact, the state chose the TPS evaluation system despite Barresi's suggestion we use something else - and the report card doesn't show this at all, does it?)
Really? Now the teachers SHOULDN'T be stressed because they are "supported"? By whom and where is this "support" coming from? Since 2009, Oklahoma has reduced per child spending to the lowest in the nation - this means your child isn't as important as other children in the nation, and once again, Oklahoma teachers remain among the lowest paid (48th in the nation). And yet, we teachers are the blame of all the problems in education, according to OUR state superindentist.....
So I'm pleading with every parent, student and educator - show up at the capital on March 31 and take back what is the people's right - not Barresi's playground. Make education a priority in this state again!
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Thursday, December 27, 2012
America - it's time to wake up!
As some of you may have noticed, I've latched onto the whole "2nd amendment" thing recently. You have to understand that for the past 20+ years, while I love to target shoot, I've refused to own weapons or store them in my house. When I was growing up, I was taught to shoot, and I was familiar with firearms. In college, I regularly went to a shooting range on campus and shot. However, once my kids came along, I didn't want to become a "statistic" so I just dropped all ideas of owning and using firearms. On the other hand, my brother continued to hunt and raised his daughter to shoot and hunt as well. At this point in time, I wish I had done the same.
However, the recent school shooting in Connecticut and the following "anti-gun government" statements and media showings are really starting to concern me. In fact, so much so that I have recently started building my "arsenal" at my house - and teaching my daughters about them as I go.
Real talk time, folks!
I don't think people truly understand what's happening with the recent "Ban Automatic Weapons" thing and how serious it can be. Between the pro gun nuts, and the anti gun nuts, the actual, REAL issue is getting lost in all the bickering between us regular citizens. You might say, "So? Who cares? People don't need large capacity magazines," or "What're you going to do with an assault weapon anyway? Hunt with it?" or "They can't do this! I paid for it fair and square!" or "They can have my guns when they take them from my cold dead hands!" or any number of variations of these two themes. I'm sure you've even taken part in one of these discussions already, and if you haven't, I'd lay even money that you will soon.
And you know what - we need to stop with these discussions. Why? Regardless of anyone's opinions, THIS IS EXACTLY what our current government wants to happen. The more confusion, the more arguing, the more bickering and complaining, the better the chances they have they will succeed. So, what really is going on?
Here's what I think IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. I believe that your 2nd amendment right is on it's way to being taken away from you, whether you choose to have a weapon or not. And a lot of us don't even realize this because of all the smoke and clutter being fed to us. It doesn't matter if you like guns, or agree with having them, love them, or if they scare the living crap out of you. IMO, It's the most important right we Americans have because it's the amendment that gives us, the governed people, the ability to defend ourselves against our GOVERNMENT should the need ever arise. It was so important to our forefathers that it was made the SECOND right on the list. The only one that's more important is the amendment that gives us the ability to try and talk our way through our problems first. Think about it. In many cases, our voices are not being heard anymore by our government. Now, if THIS right is taken away successfully, what's to stop our own government (sworn to protect our rights, by the way) from taking away the right to vote or the right to voice your opinion? What's to stop the government from arresting and holding you for no reason and seizing your property, or to just stop with the whole fair trial thing? What if women, or people who aren't white and rich, were suddenly unable to vote or own property again? How about not being able to vote legislators and presidents in and out of office?
You get the picture - once the most DANGEROUS of our rights (to the government) - the defense of your person and the ability to raise a militia against a corrupt government - is taken away, there will be no way you can stop a government and their army.
Just a little history lesson to warm you up. (My interpretation - you history teachers, if I get it wrong, please jump in!) Our forefathers saw this happening with England around 230 some years ago. Sometime in the early to mid 1700s, England was in another battle - fighting the French here in the Americas. However, it was one of those, "We will NOT lose and will use everything we have to win" wars. Because of this, England eventually won that war, but it went broke doing so and a major recession set in. They were in a pickle, but someone got the bright idea that since the war was fought over here, and they were actually defending "Colonists", then the colonists should pay for the war all by themselves. The problem was that they didn't give the colonists any choice in the matter. (You can read all about taxation without representation here.) In fact, the colonists were more than willing to do their share, it's just the GOVERNMENT didn't want to listen to them (sound familiar)? To make matters worse, life in the colonies, due to the recession was a bit more dangerous than normal.
After several incredibly stupid tax increases without listening to us, England (probably realizing something was up) decided to enact what I call "marshal law". All of a sudden, soldiers were bursting into homes of civilians, eating their food, sleeping in their beds, etc. People were being arrested for having an opinion against the King and England. No trials, or very unfair trials were being held. Yes, even weapons were being confiscated - usually leaving only one weapon to be used for hunting. Remember the famous midnight ride of Paul Revere (along with two other patriots, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott) where they warned the colonists that "the British were coming!"? Yes, that was to warn people that the ammunition and weapons that had been stored for safe keeping in event of a war with England was about to be taken by a group of soldiers. This was to happen at Concord and it actually was the start of the Revolutionary War.
Ok, let's correlate between then and now - government that is broke and decided that throwing taxes at the people without the people's input is ok. Check and Check. Times are a little bit more dangerous due to recession. Check and Check. Government is taking away basic freedoms from people. Check and trying to. Ok, this is as far as we've gotten so far. But, if they take our rights away, how far away are we from revolution again?
Yes, this is all coming from my head, but it's logical - at least to me. Consider it a conspiracy theory, whatever. But, think about it. Mull it over. What would YOU do, if you wanted TOTAL control of a country? I think the first thing you would do is to take away the people's ability to fight back.
However, the recent school shooting in Connecticut and the following "anti-gun government" statements and media showings are really starting to concern me. In fact, so much so that I have recently started building my "arsenal" at my house - and teaching my daughters about them as I go.
Real talk time, folks!
I don't think people truly understand what's happening with the recent "Ban Automatic Weapons" thing and how serious it can be. Between the pro gun nuts, and the anti gun nuts, the actual, REAL issue is getting lost in all the bickering between us regular citizens. You might say, "So? Who cares? People don't need large capacity magazines," or "What're you going to do with an assault weapon anyway? Hunt with it?" or "They can't do this! I paid for it fair and square!" or "They can have my guns when they take them from my cold dead hands!" or any number of variations of these two themes. I'm sure you've even taken part in one of these discussions already, and if you haven't, I'd lay even money that you will soon.
And you know what - we need to stop with these discussions. Why? Regardless of anyone's opinions, THIS IS EXACTLY what our current government wants to happen. The more confusion, the more arguing, the more bickering and complaining, the better the chances they have they will succeed. So, what really is going on?
Here's what I think IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. I believe that your 2nd amendment right is on it's way to being taken away from you, whether you choose to have a weapon or not. And a lot of us don't even realize this because of all the smoke and clutter being fed to us. It doesn't matter if you like guns, or agree with having them, love them, or if they scare the living crap out of you. IMO, It's the most important right we Americans have because it's the amendment that gives us, the governed people, the ability to defend ourselves against our GOVERNMENT should the need ever arise. It was so important to our forefathers that it was made the SECOND right on the list. The only one that's more important is the amendment that gives us the ability to try and talk our way through our problems first. Think about it. In many cases, our voices are not being heard anymore by our government. Now, if THIS right is taken away successfully, what's to stop our own government (sworn to protect our rights, by the way) from taking away the right to vote or the right to voice your opinion? What's to stop the government from arresting and holding you for no reason and seizing your property, or to just stop with the whole fair trial thing? What if women, or people who aren't white and rich, were suddenly unable to vote or own property again? How about not being able to vote legislators and presidents in and out of office?
You get the picture - once the most DANGEROUS of our rights (to the government) - the defense of your person and the ability to raise a militia against a corrupt government - is taken away, there will be no way you can stop a government and their army.
Just a little history lesson to warm you up. (My interpretation - you history teachers, if I get it wrong, please jump in!) Our forefathers saw this happening with England around 230 some years ago. Sometime in the early to mid 1700s, England was in another battle - fighting the French here in the Americas. However, it was one of those, "We will NOT lose and will use everything we have to win" wars. Because of this, England eventually won that war, but it went broke doing so and a major recession set in. They were in a pickle, but someone got the bright idea that since the war was fought over here, and they were actually defending "Colonists", then the colonists should pay for the war all by themselves. The problem was that they didn't give the colonists any choice in the matter. (You can read all about taxation without representation here.) In fact, the colonists were more than willing to do their share, it's just the GOVERNMENT didn't want to listen to them (sound familiar)? To make matters worse, life in the colonies, due to the recession was a bit more dangerous than normal.
After several incredibly stupid tax increases without listening to us, England (probably realizing something was up) decided to enact what I call "marshal law". All of a sudden, soldiers were bursting into homes of civilians, eating their food, sleeping in their beds, etc. People were being arrested for having an opinion against the King and England. No trials, or very unfair trials were being held. Yes, even weapons were being confiscated - usually leaving only one weapon to be used for hunting. Remember the famous midnight ride of Paul Revere (along with two other patriots, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott) where they warned the colonists that "the British were coming!"? Yes, that was to warn people that the ammunition and weapons that had been stored for safe keeping in event of a war with England was about to be taken by a group of soldiers. This was to happen at Concord and it actually was the start of the Revolutionary War.
Ok, let's correlate between then and now - government that is broke and decided that throwing taxes at the people without the people's input is ok. Check and Check. Times are a little bit more dangerous due to recession. Check and Check. Government is taking away basic freedoms from people. Check and trying to. Ok, this is as far as we've gotten so far. But, if they take our rights away, how far away are we from revolution again?
Yes, this is all coming from my head, but it's logical - at least to me. Consider it a conspiracy theory, whatever. But, think about it. Mull it over. What would YOU do, if you wanted TOTAL control of a country? I think the first thing you would do is to take away the people's ability to fight back.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Message to my College Freshmen friends, 2012
I've been reading a lot on Facebook how several of my students are packing and moving off to college. I can't help but feel excited for them!
At the risk of sounding old, 28 years ago, almost to the day, was the day I went off to college myself. I remember EVERYTHING about it - packing up my mom and dad's station wagon with all my clothes and belongings (barely filling the back of it), crawling into the driver's seat with my mom riding shotgun. Talking about anything BUT going to school. I remember getting to the dorm and trying to find the registration area and once found, told "Oh! You have the Bunny Room!" confusing the crap out of me and my mother. (Once my room was found, we discovered it was called the "Bunny Room because there was a floor to ceiling painting of the Playboy Bunny in silhouette on one wall - which looked awesome at night when the street lights came into the room.)
I remember how I was excited, yet very apprehensive about leaving home for the first time outside of camp and short trips. How my mom was trying, unsuccessfully, to not cry about her baby going away. Unloading the car and meeting my very strange roommate for the first time. Then, once everything was unloaded, walking her to the car and watching her drive away and trying not to tear up myself as I saw her finally let her tears fall freely....
I remember how I was lucky because my grandparents lived in that town so I went to their house that first night to eat and just hang out for awhile, but still feeling totally alone in the world. How, unknown to me, the next four years would be four of the best years I would have for a long time, including the most fun summer I've ever had in my life. I had my whole world in front of me, and I was young.
I even remember when almost two weeks later I got into a near fight with my roommate which resulted in me realizing it was all because I missed my parents and my home, which helped me in a strange way get over being so homesick. I remember the very first art class I had, and how easy it was to talk to the girls around me, specifically the one blonde that became one of my very best friends for several years. My 5' 5" body walking next to the 7" tall basketball player down the hall and people comparing us. The first real college party I went to. Watching scary movies on Halloween in the lobby with my dorm mates. Getting invited to join a fraternity and passing with the first class of pledges. Late night studying at the library, going to the movies or the local restaurant just for some fries because back then I was a little bitty, skinny thing. Meeting my first foreign classmate (somewhere from Asia) and realizing that despite the language difference we were pretty much the same. Going to the park and hanging out with friends and just about everything that took place over that first year. Getting a lesson from my work study professor boss (along with the other workers) on the difference between colored, black and African American, which was a relatively new term back then. (For reference, he was discussing how we lived in a relatively bland part of the state back then, with mainly just white people inhabiting it. There were very few African Americans, next to no Hispanics and even the Native Americans lived elsewhere. Believe it or not, that one 30 minute discussion as we sat in the reception area of the office opened my eyes a great deal.)
You hear people say, "If I knew back then what I know today I'd do things totally different." I don't think I would. Sure, I wouldn't spend the first two weeks flirting with Susan, the hot girl in my Freshman Composition class, then get up the guts to call her and ask her out for Friday night, only to find out that my delivery apparently wasn't that great because she didn't realize I had asked her out. I wouldn't "break dance" with the basketball players at the first dance. I wouldn't get up at 6:30 every morning that first semester to make sure I was to class on time - and I certainly wouldn't have stood outside the science building on that first day of classes holding the door for about a thousand students to go through when I only meant to hold it for the one good looking girl I'd seen. Among a host of other things that I probably shouldn't write about, but were equally as fun at the time but equally as embarrassing to me now. But, overall, I wouldn't change a thing about my first group of college years.
I have to admit it. I'm jealous of these kids going to school now. I want to have a large group of friends that lived on the same floor as me to hang out and do everything with again. I want to go to college dances. I want to go to the home football and basketball games and act like an idiot in front of everyone, yet not be criticized publicly because EVERYONE was doing it. I want to set up and play four story miniature golf in the dorm again. I want to have Zip Disc Gun Battles again (this was epic, lol!) I want to hang out in the Student Center, listening to the jukebox, playing pool, and meeting new people. I want to be in my fraternity again. I want the parties, I want the boredom - shoot, I guess I just miss that feeling of not knowing what was ahead every day and living each day like it was a party.
But, reality rears it's tired, ugly head. It's true. You can't go back again. I did try once, the second time I went to college. But I was married then, and had a beautiful baby girl so obviously it just wasn't the same. It came with it's only challenges and fun times. But nothing will be like those first years.
I have a message to the incoming Freshman class for 2012.
Enjoy it! You have SO much to look forward to in school this coming year. College isn't just about hitting the books. It's a whole life experience. Meet new people, play hard, and do some growing up. Four years goes by too fast, though sometimes it won't feel like it. Don't listen to the naysayers that spout the "Education is a waste of time" line of baloney. Go to games, go to dances, go to mixers, play games with your friends. Hang out in the student center and watch people. Sign up for intramural sports, even if you suck at it. Explore the town you live in. For some, it's a totally new place. For others, even if you've lived there before, it will hold secrets you were never privy to before - full of hidden treasures and hideouts that you'll remember forever. I have two degrees, and most of a lifetime of job experience in several fields, but I feel that my first four years of college were the most gratifying, most satisfying, most exciting time of my life. Laugh, love and spend some time becoming "YOU". You'll see that the "you" in high school really wasn't the "you" that is to come.
And remember most of all that while you may get things taken from you over the span of your life - taxes, jobs, possessions, in extreme cases but hopefully not, families and friends, and you might not even find a job in your chosen profession for some time after you graduate. But they (whoever they might be) can NEVER take away your college experiences. Those will be yours and yours alone.
Good luck to all the incoming college students, as well as students in high school and grade school this year. I hope you have as much fun as I did way back then!
At the risk of sounding old, 28 years ago, almost to the day, was the day I went off to college myself. I remember EVERYTHING about it - packing up my mom and dad's station wagon with all my clothes and belongings (barely filling the back of it), crawling into the driver's seat with my mom riding shotgun. Talking about anything BUT going to school. I remember getting to the dorm and trying to find the registration area and once found, told "Oh! You have the Bunny Room!" confusing the crap out of me and my mother. (Once my room was found, we discovered it was called the "Bunny Room because there was a floor to ceiling painting of the Playboy Bunny in silhouette on one wall - which looked awesome at night when the street lights came into the room.)
I remember how I was excited, yet very apprehensive about leaving home for the first time outside of camp and short trips. How my mom was trying, unsuccessfully, to not cry about her baby going away. Unloading the car and meeting my very strange roommate for the first time. Then, once everything was unloaded, walking her to the car and watching her drive away and trying not to tear up myself as I saw her finally let her tears fall freely....
I remember how I was lucky because my grandparents lived in that town so I went to their house that first night to eat and just hang out for awhile, but still feeling totally alone in the world. How, unknown to me, the next four years would be four of the best years I would have for a long time, including the most fun summer I've ever had in my life. I had my whole world in front of me, and I was young.
I even remember when almost two weeks later I got into a near fight with my roommate which resulted in me realizing it was all because I missed my parents and my home, which helped me in a strange way get over being so homesick. I remember the very first art class I had, and how easy it was to talk to the girls around me, specifically the one blonde that became one of my very best friends for several years. My 5' 5" body walking next to the 7" tall basketball player down the hall and people comparing us. The first real college party I went to. Watching scary movies on Halloween in the lobby with my dorm mates. Getting invited to join a fraternity and passing with the first class of pledges. Late night studying at the library, going to the movies or the local restaurant just for some fries because back then I was a little bitty, skinny thing. Meeting my first foreign classmate (somewhere from Asia) and realizing that despite the language difference we were pretty much the same. Going to the park and hanging out with friends and just about everything that took place over that first year. Getting a lesson from my work study professor boss (along with the other workers) on the difference between colored, black and African American, which was a relatively new term back then. (For reference, he was discussing how we lived in a relatively bland part of the state back then, with mainly just white people inhabiting it. There were very few African Americans, next to no Hispanics and even the Native Americans lived elsewhere. Believe it or not, that one 30 minute discussion as we sat in the reception area of the office opened my eyes a great deal.)
You hear people say, "If I knew back then what I know today I'd do things totally different." I don't think I would. Sure, I wouldn't spend the first two weeks flirting with Susan, the hot girl in my Freshman Composition class, then get up the guts to call her and ask her out for Friday night, only to find out that my delivery apparently wasn't that great because she didn't realize I had asked her out. I wouldn't "break dance" with the basketball players at the first dance. I wouldn't get up at 6:30 every morning that first semester to make sure I was to class on time - and I certainly wouldn't have stood outside the science building on that first day of classes holding the door for about a thousand students to go through when I only meant to hold it for the one good looking girl I'd seen. Among a host of other things that I probably shouldn't write about, but were equally as fun at the time but equally as embarrassing to me now. But, overall, I wouldn't change a thing about my first group of college years.
I have to admit it. I'm jealous of these kids going to school now. I want to have a large group of friends that lived on the same floor as me to hang out and do everything with again. I want to go to college dances. I want to go to the home football and basketball games and act like an idiot in front of everyone, yet not be criticized publicly because EVERYONE was doing it. I want to set up and play four story miniature golf in the dorm again. I want to have Zip Disc Gun Battles again (this was epic, lol!) I want to hang out in the Student Center, listening to the jukebox, playing pool, and meeting new people. I want to be in my fraternity again. I want the parties, I want the boredom - shoot, I guess I just miss that feeling of not knowing what was ahead every day and living each day like it was a party.
But, reality rears it's tired, ugly head. It's true. You can't go back again. I did try once, the second time I went to college. But I was married then, and had a beautiful baby girl so obviously it just wasn't the same. It came with it's only challenges and fun times. But nothing will be like those first years.
I have a message to the incoming Freshman class for 2012.
Enjoy it! You have SO much to look forward to in school this coming year. College isn't just about hitting the books. It's a whole life experience. Meet new people, play hard, and do some growing up. Four years goes by too fast, though sometimes it won't feel like it. Don't listen to the naysayers that spout the "Education is a waste of time" line of baloney. Go to games, go to dances, go to mixers, play games with your friends. Hang out in the student center and watch people. Sign up for intramural sports, even if you suck at it. Explore the town you live in. For some, it's a totally new place. For others, even if you've lived there before, it will hold secrets you were never privy to before - full of hidden treasures and hideouts that you'll remember forever. I have two degrees, and most of a lifetime of job experience in several fields, but I feel that my first four years of college were the most gratifying, most satisfying, most exciting time of my life. Laugh, love and spend some time becoming "YOU". You'll see that the "you" in high school really wasn't the "you" that is to come.
And remember most of all that while you may get things taken from you over the span of your life - taxes, jobs, possessions, in extreme cases but hopefully not, families and friends, and you might not even find a job in your chosen profession for some time after you graduate. But they (whoever they might be) can NEVER take away your college experiences. Those will be yours and yours alone.
Good luck to all the incoming college students, as well as students in high school and grade school this year. I hope you have as much fun as I did way back then!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Rodeo week!
Last night was the last night of the annual Woodward Elks Rodeo - "The toughest of them all". This year, I did the single father thing - I went with my youngest daughter. To be fair, I knew that within 20 minutes she was probably going to be bored of sitting with me and would want to hang out with her friends, and sure enough, she did. I didn't want her to be bored, so I released her from my weight and I didn't hear from her or see her again until it was over. I can honestly say she probably had a better time than just sitting with me, which was the whole idea of the thing, so it's OK. So there I was, sitting in the stands surrounded by hundreds of people I didn't know, sweating, and trying like heck to figure out what the attraction to rodeo is.
To tell the truth, this year what I was really looking forward to, besides spending time with my daughter, was the chance to use my new camera. I decided this past month to take up an old hobby of mine. Turns out, my daughter is also interested in photography, so I hope we get to do it together from time to time. I've had those little point and shoots that are tiny and fit in your pocket and they're good enough, but I wanted more so I bought what's called a bridge camera, or super zoom camera. Not quite a DSLR, but more than those little things. The ability to adjust settings on the camera as well as have the ease of a point and shoot all in one camera. Pretty cool! I got a great deal on one (took some searching, but I got it for several hundred less than it was listed) and it came in on Thursday, and I was chomping at the bit to take pictures. What I found out was that I have a LOT to learn about taking pictures at night!
(All these shots, and more, are available on my Flickr page found here Click here for more pictures taken by me of the rodeo..)
As I sat around trying to figure out what pictures to take, I saw the giant flag they had hanging from the crane. I was going for a dramatic picture, but I don't think I captured dramatic. I like it anyways.
Finally, my two favorite shots. I don't know why they are, I just like them out of the bunch.
Feel free to check out all my photos of the rodeo. Like I said, some are good, some not so much. More pictures of the rodeo!
To tell the truth, this year what I was really looking forward to, besides spending time with my daughter, was the chance to use my new camera. I decided this past month to take up an old hobby of mine. Turns out, my daughter is also interested in photography, so I hope we get to do it together from time to time. I've had those little point and shoots that are tiny and fit in your pocket and they're good enough, but I wanted more so I bought what's called a bridge camera, or super zoom camera. Not quite a DSLR, but more than those little things. The ability to adjust settings on the camera as well as have the ease of a point and shoot all in one camera. Pretty cool! I got a great deal on one (took some searching, but I got it for several hundred less than it was listed) and it came in on Thursday, and I was chomping at the bit to take pictures. What I found out was that I have a LOT to learn about taking pictures at night!
(All these shots, and more, are available on my Flickr page found here Click here for more pictures taken by me of the rodeo..)
As I sat around trying to figure out what pictures to take, I saw the giant flag they had hanging from the crane. I was going for a dramatic picture, but I don't think I captured dramatic. I like it anyways.
Who could miss the truck hanging underneath the flag? The grey behind it is smoke from the big fire going on over by Cedardale.
The kid thing was going on, so I took several of these types of shots. Kids are always good for action.
After that, it became an exercise in trying out different exposures and such, some worked, some didn't.
Feel free to check out all my photos of the rodeo. Like I said, some are good, some not so much. More pictures of the rodeo!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Doing what we love...
To start off with, I'd like to share this letter:
A Teacher Explains Why She Gave Up
It's very sad that a young teacher was reduced to leaving the job she loves. However, it's not as uncommon as you would think. A stat listed in the blog to give you an idea on how common this is: more than 50% of teachers quit within 7 years of starting, and most within 5 years. The ones that refresh this career, the ones with the fresh and new ideas and concepts, most commonly the youngest and most eager of us - over half of them leave before they are really considered master teachers.
I can relate. About 5 years ago (my 5th or 6th year), I almost quit teaching. I was having an incredibly hard time with the class I had and I just couldn't see that I was making a difference. I remember standing in the hallway outside my classroom, staring out the window and watching the highway traffic driving by and wondered what I would do if I quit teaching.
See, despite the stress, despite the headaches, despite all the hassles, and the lack of pay, I really love my job. There's nothing like seeing and talking to and with the kiddos, having them looking to me to guide them through the year, passing along knowledge - rather intended in lesson plans or spur of the moment - helping them because they need me, and being an authority/male figure that students want, need and remember year after year after year (and apparently like) is just pretty darn awesome. Honestly, I've had several jobs in my 46 years and this one is the one I feel most suited and comfortable in.
But, that horrible few months I was having back then was enough to make me seriously want to leave this wonderful career. I was having problems seeing that I was making a difference (with one student in particular), rumors of teacher merit pay were flying around and had actually made it through a committee in congress (biggest joke ever - NO ONE is paid based on how someone else performs, nor should they be), rumors of more layoffs, lack of textbooks and general support from the state - the list went on and on. Kids were negative, not listening, not caring about their work and generally disrespectful (more than what I had seen to that point). This profession that had once been considered a very noble and honorable profession had disintegrated into the laughable occupation to take money from, to place the blame for all student performance on, and to grind the collective cigarette butt of cynicism, negativity and doubt out on. And I was feeling it.
About two weeks after that, I was staring out that same window again. I had just had a run-in with that same student again, and I had decided it was enough. I was tired of the arguing, the not turning in of work, the lying, the fighting, the bickering, the contradictions, the interruptions, everything. Outside of work, I was tired of hearing about how "I got weekends and holidays and my summers off" or "How I was paid for working half a year", and I was tired of feeling like I WAS NOT MAKING A DIFFERENCE (that I could see. See, we teachers don't work in tangibles. We see the results of our hard work years later, if ever.)
However, along with these thoughts were, "What will you do if you leave?" and "You're too old to start all over again!" But there was a quiet thought also. It said, "Why let one or two people ruin what you love? Why give them the power to do that? Why not see it through?" And that little voice never stopped. It was persistent. It was kind, it was soothing, and it was RIGHT. It was that day that I decided to really dig in and do what I loved - teach.
Teaching is hard work. I've heard stories and stories and stories about bad teachers and I always say the same thing. Please don't let the one or two bad teachers you know affect your opinion of the rest of us. And let me tell you this - being a BAD teacher is EASY. Being a GOOD teacher is hard work. We spend hours every day building lessons and units, grading papers, coming up with good ideas. We spend our weekends and holidays playing "catch up" and getting ahead. We take our summers and go to workshops, take classes at college, work on our Master's degrees and getting to know our families again. We don't want the "Teacher of the Year" awards - though it's great when we get it. We just want to do what we love. We want to teach!
Now, get off my lawn!
A Teacher Explains Why She Gave Up
It's very sad that a young teacher was reduced to leaving the job she loves. However, it's not as uncommon as you would think. A stat listed in the blog to give you an idea on how common this is: more than 50% of teachers quit within 7 years of starting, and most within 5 years. The ones that refresh this career, the ones with the fresh and new ideas and concepts, most commonly the youngest and most eager of us - over half of them leave before they are really considered master teachers.
I can relate. About 5 years ago (my 5th or 6th year), I almost quit teaching. I was having an incredibly hard time with the class I had and I just couldn't see that I was making a difference. I remember standing in the hallway outside my classroom, staring out the window and watching the highway traffic driving by and wondered what I would do if I quit teaching.
See, despite the stress, despite the headaches, despite all the hassles, and the lack of pay, I really love my job. There's nothing like seeing and talking to and with the kiddos, having them looking to me to guide them through the year, passing along knowledge - rather intended in lesson plans or spur of the moment - helping them because they need me, and being an authority/male figure that students want, need and remember year after year after year (and apparently like) is just pretty darn awesome. Honestly, I've had several jobs in my 46 years and this one is the one I feel most suited and comfortable in.
But, that horrible few months I was having back then was enough to make me seriously want to leave this wonderful career. I was having problems seeing that I was making a difference (with one student in particular), rumors of teacher merit pay were flying around and had actually made it through a committee in congress (biggest joke ever - NO ONE is paid based on how someone else performs, nor should they be), rumors of more layoffs, lack of textbooks and general support from the state - the list went on and on. Kids were negative, not listening, not caring about their work and generally disrespectful (more than what I had seen to that point). This profession that had once been considered a very noble and honorable profession had disintegrated into the laughable occupation to take money from, to place the blame for all student performance on, and to grind the collective cigarette butt of cynicism, negativity and doubt out on. And I was feeling it.
About two weeks after that, I was staring out that same window again. I had just had a run-in with that same student again, and I had decided it was enough. I was tired of the arguing, the not turning in of work, the lying, the fighting, the bickering, the contradictions, the interruptions, everything. Outside of work, I was tired of hearing about how "I got weekends and holidays and my summers off" or "How I was paid for working half a year", and I was tired of feeling like I WAS NOT MAKING A DIFFERENCE (that I could see. See, we teachers don't work in tangibles. We see the results of our hard work years later, if ever.)
However, along with these thoughts were, "What will you do if you leave?" and "You're too old to start all over again!" But there was a quiet thought also. It said, "Why let one or two people ruin what you love? Why give them the power to do that? Why not see it through?" And that little voice never stopped. It was persistent. It was kind, it was soothing, and it was RIGHT. It was that day that I decided to really dig in and do what I loved - teach.
Teaching is hard work. I've heard stories and stories and stories about bad teachers and I always say the same thing. Please don't let the one or two bad teachers you know affect your opinion of the rest of us. And let me tell you this - being a BAD teacher is EASY. Being a GOOD teacher is hard work. We spend hours every day building lessons and units, grading papers, coming up with good ideas. We spend our weekends and holidays playing "catch up" and getting ahead. We take our summers and go to workshops, take classes at college, work on our Master's degrees and getting to know our families again. We don't want the "Teacher of the Year" awards - though it's great when we get it. We just want to do what we love. We want to teach!
Now, get off my lawn!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Wow!
I just this minute found out that my daughter and her boyfriend are getting me a Kindle Fire for Father's Day. How cool is that?
While I don't like that they spent that much money on me, I can't help but be happy! I LOVE tech presents! Hey, my dad loves getting tools for presents, my mom likes salt and pepper shakers, I like tech stuff. I'm one of those guys that will go out of his way to get something new in technology as soon as I can come close to affording it, but since I already had a tablet, I decided I wasn't going to get this one.
The coolest thing is that my old tablet (a Coby Kyros) rekindled - is this a pun? - my love of reading. It's so much easier picking up my tablet to read. Not really sure why, though. Since I got it around January, I've read around 10 books on it. Some of which were over 500 pages! Not a ton, I know, but about 10 more than I've read in the past 6 years.
I can't wait to start reading on my new Kindle! Does anyone have anything they want to tell me about their Kindle Fires?
While I don't like that they spent that much money on me, I can't help but be happy! I LOVE tech presents! Hey, my dad loves getting tools for presents, my mom likes salt and pepper shakers, I like tech stuff. I'm one of those guys that will go out of his way to get something new in technology as soon as I can come close to affording it, but since I already had a tablet, I decided I wasn't going to get this one.
The coolest thing is that my old tablet (a Coby Kyros) rekindled - is this a pun? - my love of reading. It's so much easier picking up my tablet to read. Not really sure why, though. Since I got it around January, I've read around 10 books on it. Some of which were over 500 pages! Not a ton, I know, but about 10 more than I've read in the past 6 years.
I can't wait to start reading on my new Kindle! Does anyone have anything they want to tell me about their Kindle Fires?
A New Me
Bare with me, folks. This is a long one!
I started exercising again this summer. It was more of a "You have to do this NOW, or you'll never do it and you'll die alone and miserably overweight and sad" blah blah blah....I decided that as part of the new me who is going to have to get a new life (long story), I need to shed some of this weight that suddenly appeared on my body over the course of 3 years (part of the long story I don't wish to tell at the moment). However, to understand why this is blog worthy, I have to take you back a bit.
About 12 years ago, I literally woke up one morning and realized that if I didn't lose weight, based on my family's history of diabetes and heart disease, I could possibly not see my kids grow up or my grandchildren. The thought was so strong that on that very day, I changed. I began to get in shape. I went to my doctor, good ol' Dr. Brown, got a prescription for Zenical and started walking (which after a bit turned into running) and eating better. Soon, I was running every single day - outside and on the treadmill if the weather was bad.
It took two years, but I dropped about 90 pounds. At the time, it was more weight than my oldest daughter weighed! I had reached 155 pounds (my goal was 150) and people were even telling my parents how great I looked. One guy even told my mom, "He looked like a marathon runner!" when he saw me running one day. Then, the accident happened. I broke my shoulder playing softball. Now, if you've never broken your shoulder, or known someone who has, it's a VERY debilitating break - it hurt to walk, sit, move, take a shower, anything. You really don't realize how much you use your shoulders for. To be honest, the entire upper left side of my body, waist up to my shoulder, was useless for about a month. It was at this time I started teaching, which every teacher knows how tiring and stressful it is for a first year teacher! So basically, I would work all day, come home, take a pain pill and sleep all night. Although it healed rather quickly, it took a good 7-8 months before I could move without any pain at all, and another 2-3 months before I could walk a decent distance without it hurting.
So what, you say? In exercising terms, this was the effect that one broken bone - in particular, THAT broken bone - had on me. Its been said that for every 2 weeks of inactivity, you lose about a month's worth of the fitness level you were at previously. It's safe to say that prior to the accident I was at a relatively high fitness level (I put in about 5-6 miles every single day). Over the approximate 10-12 months of inactivity I had, that's about 25 months of workouts lost. (In other words, read the entire two years I had worked hard at losing all this weight was shot.) The good thing, however, was that the weight didn't come rushing back on - it took a good 10 years and a big life changing event for that to happen to me.
Here's the kicker - ever since then, I have tried unsuccessfully to return to my fitness regimen. I took Zenical faithfully for another 5 years or so, which helped me maintain my weight somewhat (I gained approx. 5 pounds a year, I guess) so that it actually snuck up on me. However, I never felt, well, as centered as I used to be both physcially and mentally, so I would usually quit after a few weeks of running and around 10-15 pounds lost. Yup, you guessed it - it all started coming back.
Then, fast forward to a little over 3 years ago. I had a MAJOR life changing event - not one so uncommon to most people, but one that really set me back mentally, socially, and physically. I hate to admit it, but mentally, I shut down. WAY down. I was pretty much a zombie for a while (maybe some of you can put why I talk about zombies so much and this episode together and NOW you understand, lol!) Along with this and a new regimen of pills to take, yup, whammo! All the weight shot back on me in the span of a year and a half.
Jump to now. Different job (still teaching, just in a different school in the district and a different grade level), a new outlook, most days, on life. The event hasn't changed and I still feel uncentered - in fact, almost awkward, when I run. But running was how I did it before, and how I'll do it again.
So, why tell all this? Well, it's two-fold...
1. By writing it down and publishing it, I'm making a public affirmation. I WILL lose this weight. Now, I have the pressure of proving that I can and I have everyone reading this watching to see if I actually will do it.
and 2., I'm announcing that my life, while still not great, is getting better and by the time I lose all this weight, I expect to be centered and balanced, mentally and physically, once again. Ok, and maybe for a third reason - I love the encouragement I get from you guys!
So here's to the new me, starting 3 weeks and 8 pounds ago. Only 93 pounds to go!
Now, get off my lawn!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
We, the People.....
During my daily cruising of the internet, I came across this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cTUH_zYsu1o
At first, I found it hilarious - two pompous idiots telling each other to shut up, with a third guy trying to calm them down. Sound familiar? (read, political debates here.) But, the more I thought about it, the more I was, well, pissed off that it happened like that. Here was one guy telling another guy that he was better than him and that he better shut up and listen, while the other guy was spouting what most of America has been saying this year - "Hey, I pay your enormous, ridiculous salary, you're supposed to be working for me, so YOU shut up!"
Over the past couple of years (OK, some might say the past couple of decades) I've given thought to political aspirations, only to change my mind, especially when I see some despot politician let America down once again, or see another "unanimous" vote for a congressional pay raise. (Don't you wish you could just vote for a pay raise anytime you felt the need?) In my mind, America is STILL the best thing offered in the way of freedoms and government in the world, and I support her 100%, but lately, I feel our population of politicians have been failing us as of late. It's quite obvious that I'm not the only one thinking this about America either, as evidence by the protests and such this year.
When it comes to politics, my basic philosophy keeps coming back to the one thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world - that has made it possible for OTHER countries to rise up and take control of their own destinies....the Declaration of Independence. Sure, it was written by a bunch of white, wealthy older men for a bunch of white, wealthy, slave holding men - but it's punch isn't in who is was written for, but what was actually said in the very first part of the document.
I truly believe that if someone is elected to congress, or voted in as president, or in any political office for that matter, they should be FORCED to take a refresher Civics course on what America really is and how our politics should stand for. As a teacher, this is what I see the lesson plan being...oh, and forgive me for being a bit elementary - I am a second grade teacher, after all!
Teacher: Are you paying attention, politicians? Class? Now, this is the Declaration of Independence. Say it together....
All together: Declaration of Independence.
Teacher: Good! Today, we're going to focus on the second paragraph of this document. We're gonna skip over the first paragraph for now, because it's basically saying that at the time, the colonies decided it was time to step up and take their place in the world as a separate country and break the link they had with England. We'll study that later, though.
Let's look at the SECOND paragraph. No, the second paragraph. There you go. I'll wait for EVERYONE to find it. Ok, good job.
Now, you've worked very hard and earned your position and THIS is the part that pertains to you KEEPING YOUR JOB and realizing you aren't royalty. Let's look at this sentence, which has been called the most powerful sentence ever written by any human in history...
(Reads first sentence aloud) "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
What does this sentence mean to you? (Pause for responses).
Ok, any more?
Good! Are there any questions so far? Ok, Senator?
Senator: Why is this call the most powerful sentence? It's just a bunch of mumbly words...
Teacher: Good question! Why is it the most powerful sentence? Well, a lot of countries and people around the world look at it and say that this clearly states that as a human being, you and I have the right to live our lives how we feel free to live them. It gives rights to people who have never had them before, who have been oppressed and denied basic things in their lives, and it's what sets up our system of government - that as humans, we have RIGHTS that cannot be taken away from us by another human being, no matter who that human being is. It's our country's moral compass, so to speak.
You don't understand the language? Ok, try this. In people speak, for those of us who aren't all flowery in our speech - "Dude, look, you aren't better than me, I'm not better than you - we all have the right to live, to freely carve our own path in life with out anyone telling us we can or can't do it and try to be happy while doing so." Does this make sense you you?
Senator: Yes, it does now.
Teacher: Good! Ok, let's look at the second sentence. "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" Does anyone know what that might mean? Yes, Mr. President?
President: That our government was made by ordinary people and we have their permission to be their politicians!
Teacher: Correct! I can see why you were elected! That the government is supposed to be set up by regular men and they only get to keep their power so long as regular men say so. And how do we regular men and women say so? Senator?
Senator: In letters? Oh! I know - by voting!
Teacher: That's correct! You can write letters, but the best way is by voting! We'll get back to this later. Let's look at the next sentence...
"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Ok, what does this sentence say? Well, in normal, PEOPLE speak, it says, "Look, if you guys don't do your job, if you don't work for the people and do whats best for US and the United States as a whole, then the people - the NORMAL everyday people like me, your Aunt Sally, your cousin Bridget, all of us - get to say, 'uh uh, nope - you need to fix it or else." Or else what? You get replaced! Yup, that's right! We were given the RIGHT to get rid of our government and replace it with one that works better - it's written right there in the Declaration of Independence itself! And you don't get a say in it! So you HAVE to do your job or you get canned, period.
President: So the regular people can just overthrow the government just because we don't like it?
Teacher: No, we don't just get to overthrow the government. There actually has to be a reason for it - see, look at the next sentence:
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
This is saying that if what the people feel the government is doing isn't in OUR best interest, like if they are doing things to make it better for themselves or their friends or the wealthy or whoever, after a lot of debate, discussions, protests and whatnot, THEN if nothing is done to fix it and make it better, that's when we get to change it ourselves. How do we change it?
Well, there's a couple of ways - the easiest is to vote. Every few years, we have elections where we get to pick who we want based on who will work for us the best. Yes, you're right. Lately, they all seem to be the same person with a different skin - maybe we're just waiting for the right group of people to stand up? I don't know. That's up to the people, though, isn't it?
Senator: Ok, I don't like that way - what's the other way to do it?
Teacher: What's the other way? Oh, we don't want to go that way. Ok, well, the second way is to overthrow the government - and that would be very dangerous because it might mean a war would start. We don't want that - that's why people here PEACEFULLY demonstrate and protest!
The next sentence is a doozy - it puts the decision in the hands of the people of the United states. It tells us we HAVE to do this.
"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
This is basically saying that the people of the United States need to stop complaining and actually do something about it - which would mean getting rid of you if you don't do your job the way it was mandated to be done. So basically, not only do YOU have a job to do, so do WE!
Teacher: Ok, that's all the time we have today. Tonight, I want you to read the rest of the Declaration and we'll go through it quickly tomorrow. Oh, and start studying the Constitution. This will tell you what rights we have and how you are supposed to protect them.
Have a great day! Now, GET OUT!
Ok, fictional yes, and not as in depth as it should be for adults, but you get the point. When governments forget who they are governing and why, then it's time for a tune up. Right?
Ok, long, befuddled rant over. Now, get off my lawn! :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cTUH_zYsu1o
At first, I found it hilarious - two pompous idiots telling each other to shut up, with a third guy trying to calm them down. Sound familiar? (read, political debates here.) But, the more I thought about it, the more I was, well, pissed off that it happened like that. Here was one guy telling another guy that he was better than him and that he better shut up and listen, while the other guy was spouting what most of America has been saying this year - "Hey, I pay your enormous, ridiculous salary, you're supposed to be working for me, so YOU shut up!"
Over the past couple of years (OK, some might say the past couple of decades) I've given thought to political aspirations, only to change my mind, especially when I see some despot politician let America down once again, or see another "unanimous" vote for a congressional pay raise. (Don't you wish you could just vote for a pay raise anytime you felt the need?) In my mind, America is STILL the best thing offered in the way of freedoms and government in the world, and I support her 100%, but lately, I feel our population of politicians have been failing us as of late. It's quite obvious that I'm not the only one thinking this about America either, as evidence by the protests and such this year.
When it comes to politics, my basic philosophy keeps coming back to the one thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world - that has made it possible for OTHER countries to rise up and take control of their own destinies....the Declaration of Independence. Sure, it was written by a bunch of white, wealthy older men for a bunch of white, wealthy, slave holding men - but it's punch isn't in who is was written for, but what was actually said in the very first part of the document.
I truly believe that if someone is elected to congress, or voted in as president, or in any political office for that matter, they should be FORCED to take a refresher Civics course on what America really is and how our politics should stand for. As a teacher, this is what I see the lesson plan being...oh, and forgive me for being a bit elementary - I am a second grade teacher, after all!
Teacher: Are you paying attention, politicians? Class? Now, this is the Declaration of Independence. Say it together....
All together: Declaration of Independence.
Teacher: Good! Today, we're going to focus on the second paragraph of this document. We're gonna skip over the first paragraph for now, because it's basically saying that at the time, the colonies decided it was time to step up and take their place in the world as a separate country and break the link they had with England. We'll study that later, though.
Let's look at the SECOND paragraph. No, the second paragraph. There you go. I'll wait for EVERYONE to find it. Ok, good job.
Now, you've worked very hard and earned your position and THIS is the part that pertains to you KEEPING YOUR JOB and realizing you aren't royalty. Let's look at this sentence, which has been called the most powerful sentence ever written by any human in history...
(Reads first sentence aloud) "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
What does this sentence mean to you? (Pause for responses).
Ok, any more?
Good! Are there any questions so far? Ok, Senator?
Senator: Why is this call the most powerful sentence? It's just a bunch of mumbly words...
Teacher: Good question! Why is it the most powerful sentence? Well, a lot of countries and people around the world look at it and say that this clearly states that as a human being, you and I have the right to live our lives how we feel free to live them. It gives rights to people who have never had them before, who have been oppressed and denied basic things in their lives, and it's what sets up our system of government - that as humans, we have RIGHTS that cannot be taken away from us by another human being, no matter who that human being is. It's our country's moral compass, so to speak.
You don't understand the language? Ok, try this. In people speak, for those of us who aren't all flowery in our speech - "Dude, look, you aren't better than me, I'm not better than you - we all have the right to live, to freely carve our own path in life with out anyone telling us we can or can't do it and try to be happy while doing so." Does this make sense you you?
Senator: Yes, it does now.
Teacher: Good! Ok, let's look at the second sentence. "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" Does anyone know what that might mean? Yes, Mr. President?
President: That our government was made by ordinary people and we have their permission to be their politicians!
Teacher: Correct! I can see why you were elected! That the government is supposed to be set up by regular men and they only get to keep their power so long as regular men say so. And how do we regular men and women say so? Senator?
Senator: In letters? Oh! I know - by voting!
Teacher: That's correct! You can write letters, but the best way is by voting! We'll get back to this later. Let's look at the next sentence...
"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Ok, what does this sentence say? Well, in normal, PEOPLE speak, it says, "Look, if you guys don't do your job, if you don't work for the people and do whats best for US and the United States as a whole, then the people - the NORMAL everyday people like me, your Aunt Sally, your cousin Bridget, all of us - get to say, 'uh uh, nope - you need to fix it or else." Or else what? You get replaced! Yup, that's right! We were given the RIGHT to get rid of our government and replace it with one that works better - it's written right there in the Declaration of Independence itself! And you don't get a say in it! So you HAVE to do your job or you get canned, period.
President: So the regular people can just overthrow the government just because we don't like it?
Teacher: No, we don't just get to overthrow the government. There actually has to be a reason for it - see, look at the next sentence:
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
This is saying that if what the people feel the government is doing isn't in OUR best interest, like if they are doing things to make it better for themselves or their friends or the wealthy or whoever, after a lot of debate, discussions, protests and whatnot, THEN if nothing is done to fix it and make it better, that's when we get to change it ourselves. How do we change it?
Well, there's a couple of ways - the easiest is to vote. Every few years, we have elections where we get to pick who we want based on who will work for us the best. Yes, you're right. Lately, they all seem to be the same person with a different skin - maybe we're just waiting for the right group of people to stand up? I don't know. That's up to the people, though, isn't it?
Senator: Ok, I don't like that way - what's the other way to do it?
Teacher: What's the other way? Oh, we don't want to go that way. Ok, well, the second way is to overthrow the government - and that would be very dangerous because it might mean a war would start. We don't want that - that's why people here PEACEFULLY demonstrate and protest!
The next sentence is a doozy - it puts the decision in the hands of the people of the United states. It tells us we HAVE to do this.
"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
This is basically saying that the people of the United States need to stop complaining and actually do something about it - which would mean getting rid of you if you don't do your job the way it was mandated to be done. So basically, not only do YOU have a job to do, so do WE!
Teacher: Ok, that's all the time we have today. Tonight, I want you to read the rest of the Declaration and we'll go through it quickly tomorrow. Oh, and start studying the Constitution. This will tell you what rights we have and how you are supposed to protect them.
Have a great day! Now, GET OUT!
Ok, fictional yes, and not as in depth as it should be for adults, but you get the point. When governments forget who they are governing and why, then it's time for a tune up. Right?
Ok, long, befuddled rant over. Now, get off my lawn! :-)
Friday, September 9, 2011
Cutting the cord....
6 months ago, I got fed up with trying and trying and trying to get Direct TV to fix our bad service, watching the same reruns and movies night after night, and paying well over 100 dollars a month for it. My daughters and I decided to "cut the cable" and see if we could get the same entertainment for less by joining the growing group of Americans who are switching over to the services provided by the internet..
Mistake number one was to do this during Super Bowl weekend - up to that time I was finding all the football I wanted to watch on the internet, but on that Sunday, I couldn't find a single link that didn't require a rather substantial payment just to watch. We got through that night ok, though, and moved on with our experiment. I found MLBtv, for a month, and watched a little baseball, watched a TON of movies that I'd never heard of, and found many internet services that provided television shows, while not viewed on the same evenings, but allowed me to keep up with my old programs, to a point.
Mistake number two, I missed seeing the Sooners play last weekend - again, I thought I could find the game online, but despite looking I was unable to find it without paying a substantial fee. Since I love watching college football, particularly the Sooners, I started thinking I wasn't too pleased with my decision to cut the cord.
This week, I was stricken by that nasty stomach thing that has been going around town. I ended up staying home on Wednesday. However, what I hadn't counted on was my forgetting to pay the phone bill (I pay all my bills online, and forgetting this one bill has been a thorn in my side for almost a year - another story for another time) and my phone/internet service being cut off that very same day. When I'm laying on the couch miserable, the last thing I want to do is read - I'd much rather just lay there and mindlessly watch the tube, which led up to the main reason I didn't totally go for the whole internet television experience. After every movie, every television show, every documentary, you're required to manually move to another or the next episode, show, movie or whatever. And, no commercials mean shows are much shorter than normal. It doesn't sound like much, but if you watch 6 movies in a day, or 20 tv shows, that means you are manually moving from one to the next every single time. It gets old.
So, as I lay there after having paid my bill with my cell (LOVE this option) and waiting for them to find some time to flip a switch and reconnect my internet service, my daughter walks in with the mail in which I receive a letter about a deal from Suddenlink. I had cut cable service YEARS ago when Heartland Wireless was here, and had said I would never go back to just cable service, but after the garbage service Direct TV was giving me, the option was either Suddenlink or another satellite service. And at HALF the cost of what DirectTV was costing me.
So, reluctantly, yet with some excitement, I called and set up an appointment to get cable service again. This whole time I was thinking, why don't they just plug the cable in like the old days and be done with it? Well, the service guy showed up BEFORE the scheduled appointment time - seriously, when have you ever heard of a cable guy showing up EARLY? Plus one for Suddenlink! Yay!
I had totally forgotten about the whole digital television requirement thing the government had imposed on the nation and realized while the cable guy was setting up cable boxes that you just don't plug into the wall anymore. It's actually more complicated than that, so I realized why I needed a service man there now. PLUS, he found out why my service with Direct TV had been bad - something about a connecter that was totally rusted through outside. He told me that it was a common problem, and that it was bad enough he had to bypass it to get it to work. Yet, DirectTV had spent a year or more insisting it was my television that was causing all the problems after many, many calls to get them to fix it. So another plus one for Suddenlink finding the issue and fixing it for me when I couldn't get a satellite company to go further than talking to me on the phone.
Now, here's the funny part. I cut the cord in the first place, as I said, because of the amount of money I was paying for reruns and having hundreds of channels with nothing on. Tonight, before I fell asleep on the couch, I was flipping through stations and noticing that, yup, reruns and movies I had already seen and nothing on. BUT...now I get to watch live news AND commercials AND can set it on one channel without having to constantly find something else to watch. And I'm loving not having streaming problems! So, I guess it's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.
Mistake number one was to do this during Super Bowl weekend - up to that time I was finding all the football I wanted to watch on the internet, but on that Sunday, I couldn't find a single link that didn't require a rather substantial payment just to watch. We got through that night ok, though, and moved on with our experiment. I found MLBtv, for a month, and watched a little baseball, watched a TON of movies that I'd never heard of, and found many internet services that provided television shows, while not viewed on the same evenings, but allowed me to keep up with my old programs, to a point.
Mistake number two, I missed seeing the Sooners play last weekend - again, I thought I could find the game online, but despite looking I was unable to find it without paying a substantial fee. Since I love watching college football, particularly the Sooners, I started thinking I wasn't too pleased with my decision to cut the cord.
This week, I was stricken by that nasty stomach thing that has been going around town. I ended up staying home on Wednesday. However, what I hadn't counted on was my forgetting to pay the phone bill (I pay all my bills online, and forgetting this one bill has been a thorn in my side for almost a year - another story for another time) and my phone/internet service being cut off that very same day. When I'm laying on the couch miserable, the last thing I want to do is read - I'd much rather just lay there and mindlessly watch the tube, which led up to the main reason I didn't totally go for the whole internet television experience. After every movie, every television show, every documentary, you're required to manually move to another or the next episode, show, movie or whatever. And, no commercials mean shows are much shorter than normal. It doesn't sound like much, but if you watch 6 movies in a day, or 20 tv shows, that means you are manually moving from one to the next every single time. It gets old.
So, as I lay there after having paid my bill with my cell (LOVE this option) and waiting for them to find some time to flip a switch and reconnect my internet service, my daughter walks in with the mail in which I receive a letter about a deal from Suddenlink. I had cut cable service YEARS ago when Heartland Wireless was here, and had said I would never go back to just cable service, but after the garbage service Direct TV was giving me, the option was either Suddenlink or another satellite service. And at HALF the cost of what DirectTV was costing me.
So, reluctantly, yet with some excitement, I called and set up an appointment to get cable service again. This whole time I was thinking, why don't they just plug the cable in like the old days and be done with it? Well, the service guy showed up BEFORE the scheduled appointment time - seriously, when have you ever heard of a cable guy showing up EARLY? Plus one for Suddenlink! Yay!
I had totally forgotten about the whole digital television requirement thing the government had imposed on the nation and realized while the cable guy was setting up cable boxes that you just don't plug into the wall anymore. It's actually more complicated than that, so I realized why I needed a service man there now. PLUS, he found out why my service with Direct TV had been bad - something about a connecter that was totally rusted through outside. He told me that it was a common problem, and that it was bad enough he had to bypass it to get it to work. Yet, DirectTV had spent a year or more insisting it was my television that was causing all the problems after many, many calls to get them to fix it. So another plus one for Suddenlink finding the issue and fixing it for me when I couldn't get a satellite company to go further than talking to me on the phone.
Now, here's the funny part. I cut the cord in the first place, as I said, because of the amount of money I was paying for reruns and having hundreds of channels with nothing on. Tonight, before I fell asleep on the couch, I was flipping through stations and noticing that, yup, reruns and movies I had already seen and nothing on. BUT...now I get to watch live news AND commercials AND can set it on one channel without having to constantly find something else to watch. And I'm loving not having streaming problems! So, I guess it's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Baby steps...
About 11 years ago, I went through a major body change. I started running, was taking that new (at the time) diet drug Xenical, watched what I ate and I lost 90 pounds, from 245 to 155. At the time, it was like losing the weight of my oldest daughter off my back! Unfortunately, I broke my shoulder playing softball at that point and ended up sitting on the couch when I wasn't working for the next 6 months because even walking hurt my shoulder. At this point, I also got a teaching job that required me to work late most nights and made me tired the other nights, so little by little, I gained back weight. At my peak I was running 5-6 miles a day (from my house around the trails and back again) and felt extremely strong. Sadly, I never reached my goal of 150 pounds.
Fortunately, after about 5 years of gaining weight back, I was able to run again (a little, but never like before) and with programs like P90X I was able to slow the weight gain and maintain a somewhat OK, though too much for my liking, weight.
Then, throw in another major change in my life a little over two years ago, and it seems the weight has just taken on a mind of it's own. I have that old familiar back pain, shortness of breath, sweating profusely and all the nasty stuff that comes along with being way overweight. Yuck.
Why am I sharing this?
I'm tired of being miserable. I'm tired of feeling tired and sore. I'm tired of looking at this unfamiliar figure in the mirror, so I've decided that I'm going to take control of my body again. Sadly, I'm 11 years older, and time is running out for me to get out there and go again, and it's going to be tough.
So here we go. My daughters are older now and they're going to help me, and hopefully, with their support, I'm going to begin a major course in weight loss/fitness. I have a month before school starts, and my first goal is to lose 10 pounds. I know, much more than is considered really healthy for a month. But, this is desperation time. I'm starting two programs back up - the P90X program and the 6 Week Body Makeover plan. The P90X will reshape my body and help me build that muscle needed, and using the diet/eating plan from the 6 Week Body Makeover should help the calorie intake and get me eating correctly. I also plan to walk/run when I can as well just for that added body boost.
I've used both programs separately with success before, so if all goes well, this 45-year old man should be in the best shape of his life within a couple of years. And if not, well, I do know I'll have lost a little bit of weight.
Anyway, give me some support when you see me and help cheer me along to my previous weight. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, right?
Small steps, baby steps.
Fortunately, after about 5 years of gaining weight back, I was able to run again (a little, but never like before) and with programs like P90X I was able to slow the weight gain and maintain a somewhat OK, though too much for my liking, weight.
Then, throw in another major change in my life a little over two years ago, and it seems the weight has just taken on a mind of it's own. I have that old familiar back pain, shortness of breath, sweating profusely and all the nasty stuff that comes along with being way overweight. Yuck.
Why am I sharing this?
I'm tired of being miserable. I'm tired of feeling tired and sore. I'm tired of looking at this unfamiliar figure in the mirror, so I've decided that I'm going to take control of my body again. Sadly, I'm 11 years older, and time is running out for me to get out there and go again, and it's going to be tough.
So here we go. My daughters are older now and they're going to help me, and hopefully, with their support, I'm going to begin a major course in weight loss/fitness. I have a month before school starts, and my first goal is to lose 10 pounds. I know, much more than is considered really healthy for a month. But, this is desperation time. I'm starting two programs back up - the P90X program and the 6 Week Body Makeover plan. The P90X will reshape my body and help me build that muscle needed, and using the diet/eating plan from the 6 Week Body Makeover should help the calorie intake and get me eating correctly. I also plan to walk/run when I can as well just for that added body boost.
I've used both programs separately with success before, so if all goes well, this 45-year old man should be in the best shape of his life within a couple of years. And if not, well, I do know I'll have lost a little bit of weight.
Anyway, give me some support when you see me and help cheer me along to my previous weight. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, right?
Small steps, baby steps.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Must be the weather...
Ok, I've decided that the bad mood and horrible days I've had lately are due to the weather. It's soooo hot and dry here. I saw a picture yesterday that said, "Satan called. He wants his weather back!" I did laugh at that one, but I do believe that he's actually starting to send his crop to Oklahoma because it's more miserable here now than there! Hahaha!
However, when I read this today, I felt the blood begin to boil and felt a blog post coming on. I only HOPE that with this issue, it's just the weather!
Lately, I've been reading about the budget cuts being made, and all the programs being dropped just so states and the nation can do whatever it is that they need to. And while this is normal stuff and just part of an otherwise normal process, the American people are starting to notice.
A few weeks ago, it became clear that our State Superintendent, the woman in charge of all of education in Oklahoma, the one with the dental degree and not the highly qualified teaching degree the rest of us HAVE to have just to teach in the U.S., yet the state education Czar has no need for such a bothersome thing, decided to cut the stipends paid to nationally certified teachers. (see article here - http://okea.org/about-oea/media-center/state-department-delivers-fatal-blow-to-teacher-incentive-program.) The money that was promised to them and an actual effort to keep this state's teachers in Oklahoma and not go to Texas or Kansas where they actually pay their teachers, so long as they had it available (which they do have available, she just decided to use it elsewhere.) The worst thing about this is that she was the deciding vote - the tie breaker - in this decision. OUR OKLAHOMA EDUCATION LEADER decided to spit on those teachers who took the time to better themselves!
This was a big blow to those teachers because, despite being so good at their jobs, they need that money every bit as much as do the rest of us. They put in nearly 3 years of extremely difficult work and are now told, "So? Deal with it! We're in a budget crunch! Come on, make the sacrifice for your school and the children!" [insert slap in face here] Its great TEACHERS can sacrifice for children - we have for years and don't complain when doing so. How about someone else take a turn at sacrificing "for the children?" Like our State Superintendent and her staff, for starters? The National Board stipend was just a little recognition that these teachers duly deserve. They worked hard for it! (I'm in the middle of the process myself, though I'm questioning now if I should complete it. For some reason, it doesn't seem worth it now since I've gotten the educational benefit from it. Not for just 4 little letters after my name since there's no other benefit outside of personal growth anymore from it.)
Anyway, in a second strike, she got rid of funding for literacy programs that we teachers have used to help us reach the ridiculous goals these very same politicians/non educators have placed on us and our students. (Found here http://newsok.com/state-elementary-school-reading-program-unfunded-for-first-time-in-13-years/article/3585357#ixzz1S67LHQGb.) This is after all the hoopla she made when she first took office that made so many people want to impeach her, if that's even possible. All for a POSSIBLE savings of nearly 6 million dollars. Is that all? Seriously? Doesn't seem worth it in the big picture.
Now, today, I read that Obama has said that if Congress doesn't vote to allow the debt ceiling to be raised, he's can't guarantee that Social Security checks will be able to go out to the American People. (Found here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/12/obama-social-security-checks-debt-ceiling_n_895831.html.)Seriously? The very people that put him and the legislators in office are being told they won't get paid? These people NEED their checks! Where is the legislator threat of not getting paid? These AMERICAN citizens don't get to live in a tax funded white house with security fences and have a cook making them and their families meals for them. They don't have chauffeurs, and actually have to pay the high cost for gasoline in the car they hope will make it through the day. They don't get the option of not worrying about their utility bills and if they paid them correctly this month. They have doctors bills to pay because they use the doctor and go to the hospital MORE than those in office. They don't have a salary greater than $250,000.00 a year, then $150,000.00 for the rest of their lives AFTER they leave office. Yet, the one person in the nation that gets all of this is telling them that their very lives are in danger because they can't find the money (outside of their own paychecks, that is).
People, we have to wake up! We HAVE to put a stop to the harassment our own, voted for, politicians are doing to us. We HAVE to stop being held for ransom!
Ok, now you're saying I'm being sensationalist. Maybe, but let's take a look at Oklahoma for now. Let's see. Teachers in Oklahoma have one of the LOWEST salaries for teachers in America. Like the bottom 5 is what I remember (I may be wrong, but I'm close.) It's documented, it's valid and everyone knows this. Yet, according to a news article (Found here http://www.newson6.com/story/15081983/tonight-at-10-oklahoma-lawmakers-among-best-paid-in-nation) I read yesterday, our legislators and leaders in this state have one of the HIGHEST salaries in America - somewhere in the TOP 15 in the nation. For about 16 weeks of work (for the record, that's about half the number of weeks teachers work - on the clock.) Wow, big gap, isn't it? Yet, to figure out the budget, they are cutting money from necessary programs that are actually, well, necessary! Now, if I were to dig deeper, I'm sure money has been cut from the police and fire department budget, the transportation department and so on, but I don't really pay that much attention to that, so I stick with what I know, which is education.
You might say, yeah, but teachers have awesome benefits! (Excuse me, I actually just spit my drink on my monitor from laughing when I read what I just wrote...) No, not really. Our insurance isn't cheaper - in fact, I happen to know first hand that for the EXACT SAME insurance with the EXACT SAME benefits, employees of the state district attorneys insurance is HALF the cost of ours. So even within our own state jobs there is inequality. Days off? Believe it or not, we don't actually get paid for those - our salary is actually based on 185 days of work, over approximately 9 months (throw in Christmas break, Thanksgiving Break, Easter Break, Spring Break and Fall Break, then the normal holidays most people get like Labor Day and you come up with the 9 month time span), they just split our salary into 12 payments for us. You can argue that if we worked every day, our salary would be double. Yes, but we don't work at school every day, do we? Moot point... Easier hours? Really? Come with me and spend some of my "easier" hours with me. Physically easier, possibly yes. Mentally? Let's just say there's a reason so many teachers file nervous and mental claims with their insurance companies at the end of the year. It isn't because their brains are working in tip top fashion by the end of the school year!
Now, to be fair, let's look at legislator benefits...this is all according to the news article for 4-5 months work, btw.
The STARTING salary for a legislator in 2011 in Oklahoma is around $38,000.00. (That's more than I make a year, after 9 years of teaching.) Not to mention the BONUSES of $12,000.00 - $17,000.00 the leadership of the legislature get. (Bonuses? Really? For what? Dragging unnecessary bills through the committees and getting them passed? Voting themselves raises every year? Wow. We teachers here in Woodward got a bonus of $500.00 one year. Once. And none of us have a salary higher than the state step mandated to us, not counting stipends, military experience, etc.) Reading that article, there are actually states around us that their legislators get LESS than 10,000.00, and one that doesn't even have a salary!
This is just hearsay, but I'd LOVE to find out about it. Golden umbrella insurance, not paid by them but by us, the citizens of the state. And it covers not just them but their families. For the rest of their lives. My insurance was so expensive, I couldn't afford to put my own kids on it and this is with me taking the least expensive choice. Nice, huh?
Back to information from the article. Daily stipends of around $148.00. Daily, as in EVERY DAY. If they aren't staying in a place in the city that is probably paid by, yup, us! PLUS mileage! These two benefits are for those that live more than 50 miles away. 148 per day PLUS mileage? WOW! Just for 16 weeks, the stipend alone is over 9 thousand bucks per person. Add mileage on top of that, and you have one heck of a benefit plan there. (Let's see, we teachers in this district aren't allowed to take our own vehicles on required workshop trips anymore, thus saving our school, I think, around 60 cents a mile, but we do get our meals reimbursed so long as they aren't more than 20.00. We also aren't allowed to spend the night unless it's a multiple day workshop - we have to go down early that morning and come back that night.) Trust me, I'm not blaming our school at all. They're doing what they have to just to survive. I'm just comparing is all.
I'm sure there are more things I could rant about. These legislators seem to get the best of the best in Oklahoma. But, these very same legislators have decided the BEST place to cut money is from ESSENTIAL programs used by teachers, police, fire fighters, transportation people, doctors, etc. Yet, I don't see a single one of them saying, "We need to cut our truly excessive salary and benefit package - the people of Oklahoma are suffering! We found 6 million in Education by taking away a teacher's benefits and hurting our children by taking away their programs. We could have done that with our own salaries! It's not right we live in luxury while they are being threatened daily." Don't really see this happening, do you?
This was just from our state alone - can you imagine what it's like in Washington? No wonder people want to be politicians!
What's wrong with us people? We actually VOTED to put these people in office. When will America stop being apathetic and take back our country? Remember that part in the Declaration of Independence? We make our children memorize it at school...
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Key word: Consent. They have to have OUR permission, not the other way around.
I really hope it's the weather because, holy smokes, it's getting hot in Oklahoma!
However, when I read this today, I felt the blood begin to boil and felt a blog post coming on. I only HOPE that with this issue, it's just the weather!
Lately, I've been reading about the budget cuts being made, and all the programs being dropped just so states and the nation can do whatever it is that they need to. And while this is normal stuff and just part of an otherwise normal process, the American people are starting to notice.
A few weeks ago, it became clear that our State Superintendent, the woman in charge of all of education in Oklahoma, the one with the dental degree and not the highly qualified teaching degree the rest of us HAVE to have just to teach in the U.S., yet the state education Czar has no need for such a bothersome thing, decided to cut the stipends paid to nationally certified teachers. (see article here - http://okea.org/about-oea/media-center/state-department-delivers-fatal-blow-to-teacher-incentive-program.) The money that was promised to them and an actual effort to keep this state's teachers in Oklahoma and not go to Texas or Kansas where they actually pay their teachers, so long as they had it available (which they do have available, she just decided to use it elsewhere.) The worst thing about this is that she was the deciding vote - the tie breaker - in this decision. OUR OKLAHOMA EDUCATION LEADER decided to spit on those teachers who took the time to better themselves!
This was a big blow to those teachers because, despite being so good at their jobs, they need that money every bit as much as do the rest of us. They put in nearly 3 years of extremely difficult work and are now told, "So? Deal with it! We're in a budget crunch! Come on, make the sacrifice for your school and the children!" [insert slap in face here] Its great TEACHERS can sacrifice for children - we have for years and don't complain when doing so. How about someone else take a turn at sacrificing "for the children?" Like our State Superintendent and her staff, for starters? The National Board stipend was just a little recognition that these teachers duly deserve. They worked hard for it! (I'm in the middle of the process myself, though I'm questioning now if I should complete it. For some reason, it doesn't seem worth it now since I've gotten the educational benefit from it. Not for just 4 little letters after my name since there's no other benefit outside of personal growth anymore from it.)
Anyway, in a second strike, she got rid of funding for literacy programs that we teachers have used to help us reach the ridiculous goals these very same politicians/non educators have placed on us and our students. (Found here http://newsok.com/state-elementary-school-reading-program-unfunded-for-first-time-in-13-years/article/3585357#ixzz1S67LHQGb.) This is after all the hoopla she made when she first took office that made so many people want to impeach her, if that's even possible. All for a POSSIBLE savings of nearly 6 million dollars. Is that all? Seriously? Doesn't seem worth it in the big picture.
Now, today, I read that Obama has said that if Congress doesn't vote to allow the debt ceiling to be raised, he's can't guarantee that Social Security checks will be able to go out to the American People. (Found here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/12/obama-social-security-checks-debt-ceiling_n_895831.html.)Seriously? The very people that put him and the legislators in office are being told they won't get paid? These people NEED their checks! Where is the legislator threat of not getting paid? These AMERICAN citizens don't get to live in a tax funded white house with security fences and have a cook making them and their families meals for them. They don't have chauffeurs, and actually have to pay the high cost for gasoline in the car they hope will make it through the day. They don't get the option of not worrying about their utility bills and if they paid them correctly this month. They have doctors bills to pay because they use the doctor and go to the hospital MORE than those in office. They don't have a salary greater than $250,000.00 a year, then $150,000.00 for the rest of their lives AFTER they leave office. Yet, the one person in the nation that gets all of this is telling them that their very lives are in danger because they can't find the money (outside of their own paychecks, that is).
People, we have to wake up! We HAVE to put a stop to the harassment our own, voted for, politicians are doing to us. We HAVE to stop being held for ransom!
Ok, now you're saying I'm being sensationalist. Maybe, but let's take a look at Oklahoma for now. Let's see. Teachers in Oklahoma have one of the LOWEST salaries for teachers in America. Like the bottom 5 is what I remember (I may be wrong, but I'm close.) It's documented, it's valid and everyone knows this. Yet, according to a news article (Found here http://www.newson6.com/story/15081983/tonight-at-10-oklahoma-lawmakers-among-best-paid-in-nation) I read yesterday, our legislators and leaders in this state have one of the HIGHEST salaries in America - somewhere in the TOP 15 in the nation. For about 16 weeks of work (for the record, that's about half the number of weeks teachers work - on the clock.) Wow, big gap, isn't it? Yet, to figure out the budget, they are cutting money from necessary programs that are actually, well, necessary! Now, if I were to dig deeper, I'm sure money has been cut from the police and fire department budget, the transportation department and so on, but I don't really pay that much attention to that, so I stick with what I know, which is education.
You might say, yeah, but teachers have awesome benefits! (Excuse me, I actually just spit my drink on my monitor from laughing when I read what I just wrote...) No, not really. Our insurance isn't cheaper - in fact, I happen to know first hand that for the EXACT SAME insurance with the EXACT SAME benefits, employees of the state district attorneys insurance is HALF the cost of ours. So even within our own state jobs there is inequality. Days off? Believe it or not, we don't actually get paid for those - our salary is actually based on 185 days of work, over approximately 9 months (throw in Christmas break, Thanksgiving Break, Easter Break, Spring Break and Fall Break, then the normal holidays most people get like Labor Day and you come up with the 9 month time span), they just split our salary into 12 payments for us. You can argue that if we worked every day, our salary would be double. Yes, but we don't work at school every day, do we? Moot point... Easier hours? Really? Come with me and spend some of my "easier" hours with me. Physically easier, possibly yes. Mentally? Let's just say there's a reason so many teachers file nervous and mental claims with their insurance companies at the end of the year. It isn't because their brains are working in tip top fashion by the end of the school year!
Now, to be fair, let's look at legislator benefits...this is all according to the news article for 4-5 months work, btw.
The STARTING salary for a legislator in 2011 in Oklahoma is around $38,000.00. (That's more than I make a year, after 9 years of teaching.) Not to mention the BONUSES of $12,000.00 - $17,000.00 the leadership of the legislature get. (Bonuses? Really? For what? Dragging unnecessary bills through the committees and getting them passed? Voting themselves raises every year? Wow. We teachers here in Woodward got a bonus of $500.00 one year. Once. And none of us have a salary higher than the state step mandated to us, not counting stipends, military experience, etc.) Reading that article, there are actually states around us that their legislators get LESS than 10,000.00, and one that doesn't even have a salary!
This is just hearsay, but I'd LOVE to find out about it. Golden umbrella insurance, not paid by them but by us, the citizens of the state. And it covers not just them but their families. For the rest of their lives. My insurance was so expensive, I couldn't afford to put my own kids on it and this is with me taking the least expensive choice. Nice, huh?
Back to information from the article. Daily stipends of around $148.00. Daily, as in EVERY DAY. If they aren't staying in a place in the city that is probably paid by, yup, us! PLUS mileage! These two benefits are for those that live more than 50 miles away. 148 per day PLUS mileage? WOW! Just for 16 weeks, the stipend alone is over 9 thousand bucks per person. Add mileage on top of that, and you have one heck of a benefit plan there. (Let's see, we teachers in this district aren't allowed to take our own vehicles on required workshop trips anymore, thus saving our school, I think, around 60 cents a mile, but we do get our meals reimbursed so long as they aren't more than 20.00. We also aren't allowed to spend the night unless it's a multiple day workshop - we have to go down early that morning and come back that night.) Trust me, I'm not blaming our school at all. They're doing what they have to just to survive. I'm just comparing is all.
I'm sure there are more things I could rant about. These legislators seem to get the best of the best in Oklahoma. But, these very same legislators have decided the BEST place to cut money is from ESSENTIAL programs used by teachers, police, fire fighters, transportation people, doctors, etc. Yet, I don't see a single one of them saying, "We need to cut our truly excessive salary and benefit package - the people of Oklahoma are suffering! We found 6 million in Education by taking away a teacher's benefits and hurting our children by taking away their programs. We could have done that with our own salaries! It's not right we live in luxury while they are being threatened daily." Don't really see this happening, do you?
This was just from our state alone - can you imagine what it's like in Washington? No wonder people want to be politicians!
What's wrong with us people? We actually VOTED to put these people in office. When will America stop being apathetic and take back our country? Remember that part in the Declaration of Independence? We make our children memorize it at school...
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Key word: Consent. They have to have OUR permission, not the other way around.
I really hope it's the weather because, holy smokes, it's getting hot in Oklahoma!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Take Me Out to the Ballgame....
Recently, I've been reading the summer sporting "updates" on Facebook and various other social media, and I have to say I laugh when I do. Now, it's not just one post from one upset parent - seriously, it's been several posts by several parents and several days that I've seen them...so please don't think I'm singling anyone out in particular.
Oh, and by laugh, I mean it starts as a smirk, then a giggle, then an uncontrollable, maniacal laugh that makes my dogs wake up and slink off to their kennel to hide. You have to understand why, though. I remember those days when my daughters played summer ball - the days when I would rush home from work, and while still wearing my dress clothes, and in 5 minutes, get the kids dressed and run them to the field (usually late) in 100+ degree weather to watch them play t-ball or softball at a field with little to no shade, sweating like crazy and yelling at my girls to, "watch the ball hit the bat!" or encouraging them with a, "you can do it!" or scolding them to, "stand up and pay attention!" I also, much to my shame now, remember thinking (and sometimes voicing my opinion) that the person in charge was either "a good coach" or one that "only did it so their kids could play". Quite often it was, "What the hell is this person thinking?"
As a man who had played baseball my entire childhood all the way up through college, who knows the sport like the back of my hand, and who really, REALLY wanted his kids to enjoy sports as much as he did, it was difficult keeping quiet outside the fence. Thank goodness for my wife back then. She tended to keep me under control somewhat, and I knew if she was yelling then it was OK for me to yell, too. I just couldn't do more than she did, or I was in trouble. Thing is, I would choose to focus my attention on my kids and not really the coach, especially during practice, because, with a few exceptions, I figured I knew better than the coach did.
I know, I know - that sounds like I'm on a high horse and snooty and that I'm "all that". Yup, I guess so, but stop it. You did it, too! We all do, even coaches. We are human, we are competitive and we all want our kids to be successful. I know this because I see your posts about it! I could write a book about parents and their kids during sporting events (my dad was one of those) and I could probably include myself in it.
Let's face it. Some people just shouldn't be coaches. Some are just in it because they were roped in and no one else would do it. They don't really understand the game, and are just filling a spot. (Lord, help them!) Some think they know what they're doing even though it's obvious they don't. (These are the ones that teach the children incorrectly. We all know those. Lord help US!) However, I have to give it to the coaches who take the time every year to try and teach these young ones the game from the ground up. It's really not that easy...
To give you some background, I've had the distinct honor of being a parent to two wonderful, beautiful and talented daughters who played softball for Kid's Inc as long as they could. I think they could really have gone much further than they did, but in the interest of not shoving my goals for them (sports-wise) in their faces, we decided to let them play if they wanted, or not play. It was always their choice. It wasn't easy for them, though. Like I said, I grew up playing "the game" and was somewhat successful at it. That meant I was extra tough on them...Yikes, right? So when they didn't want to play, I may have coaxed them into it, or just dealt with it that summer.
Secondly, I've also had the distinct honor of being a coach and umpire for four years when I was younger. I coached, with my roommate back in college, a Little League baseball team for two years, then umpired baseball and softball for a community (not Woodward) for a summer, then coached 7th grade softball for a summer. Folks, I'm here to tell ya, it just ain't easy. Dealing with kids can be difficult, but sometimes, dealing with parents during a game is not much easier! In fact, during a coaches meeting my second year coaching, one of the old timers who'd been coaching for years, voiced, "The game would be easier, the kids would learn more and have more fun if we just wouldn't allow parents to show up!" I agree and here's why.
As a coach of summer league ball, you aren't just focused on one kid. These aren't the high school kids who already know the game. You have (hopefully) 9 or more kids to keep an eye on and to train properly. You have to deal with the shy kid, the mean kid, the smelly kid, the goofy kid and the one that doesn't get along with anyone but really tries to, and the one that is truly an athlete. You get the kids that have played forever and the ones that just today decided to play for the first time. Not only that, you have to give them ALL the best of your time. You have to find which position they'll truly be good at (not the one the parent thinks their kid needs to play) and you have to teach them how to play that position. You have to teach them to not be afraid of the ball, keep their eye on the ball and to close their mitt when the ball lands inside it. Then you have to teach them to bat properly, and depending on the age, which direction to run should they actually get a hit. Oh, and the fun thing is, during summer ball, you usually have about a two weeks (maybe 4-5 practices) to do all this in!
As a coach at this level, you have to separate your innate desire to win, win, win and teach the kid HOW to win, win, win while taking into consideration these aren't little adults we're dealing with. They want to have fun, fun, fun and trust me, when a kid wants to have fun, and is mixed in with a bunch of other kids that want to have fun - they're going to have fun one way or the other! You have to love kids and love the sport your coaching, or you'll burn out faster than a Wal-Mart brand light bulb.
The coach at this level not only does this, sees the entire team as a TEAM, but realizes they are a bunch of individuals at this point. They see who gets along with whom, they see who is having a good day or a bad day, they see the lazy ones who never show up to practice or just stand around, the ones with potential, the ones that are truly gifted. They know the criers, they know the haters, they know the ones that are poison to a team. And, they usually spend a good majority of their free time trying to put these kid in a position that will help the team be successful. IF they are lucky, they might be able to build up a team that will win.
Now, throw in the unknown variable. The parents. Each year I coached I wondered if I was going to get the parents who thought they knew more than me, that were the "experts" (like me, haha!) who grew up with the game. The yellers, or the ones that were quiet, but would "talk" to their friends about you. The ones that wanted their kid to do great - not necessarily the team. The ones that just KNEW their kid was going to be the pitcher or catcher and NEVER the right fielder. Or if I'd get lucky and get a bunch of vocally supportive parents. Believe it or not, for every one or two haters, there are 6-7 who think you're doing great - they just don't say it so you don't know it.
From my point of view as a parent and as a coach, it was easier to coach from your car than it was the bench. Almost all the stress in a game came from outside the fence, not inside it. What's more, the kids knew it, too. As an umpire, I saw many kids when their parents started to yell at me or the coaches. Their faces changed, they got embarrassed or sad. Their shoulders would slump and all enthusiasm would drain from them. They really stopped having fun. In fact, I'd lay dollars on the table that they wished they could do anything else than play that game at that moment. As an example, after one particularly rough umpiring gig of 8 and under softball girls, one of the girls came up to me and actually apologized for her dad and told me I was a good umpire and that I should just ignore him. How sad is that?
I do have to say, despite this blog sounding negative, coaching isn't unpleasant. It's work, but it's really a lot of fun! I had a lot of laughs while I was coaching. Also, I loved teaching the sport to the kids. I guess that showed, because I had a parent come up to me after the last game of the season the year I coached 7th grade girls softball and tell me that they loved how I would take the time to teach the girls right then how to do something when they struck out or dropped a ball or misplayed or whatever. Another couple of parents asked if I'd be willing to coach during the school year because they thought I was great at it! (I didn't tell them I only coached that season because I actually got "roped" into doing it, haha! I can't imagine going through what an actual coach for a school goes through.) We only won one game that season, but it was truly fun. I saw the girls grow a lot, including my youngest daughter, and I got to coach her last season of playing. Now THAT was worth it.
I guess my whole point is that as parents and coaches we all need to remember that the coaches during summer league are all voluntary and that they have taken a lot on their plate by accepting the position. It's quite an honor to be a coach - they are entrusted with our children and the knowledge of the game. We also have to remember WHY the kids are playing. Our time for playing is past, and yes, although we live vicariously through our children, we want our kids to be successful and it irritates us when we see what we think isn't right. We just need to remember that not all sides of the cube are showing at one time and there's a side (or two) that we just don't know about. Also, baseball, t-ball, softball, soccer, basketball, football - they're all just games. And games are supposed to be fun. Yes, be angry when we need to be because we're probably right, but also remember that our kids are watching us.
So, PLAY BALL and have a great time doing so!
Oh, and by laugh, I mean it starts as a smirk, then a giggle, then an uncontrollable, maniacal laugh that makes my dogs wake up and slink off to their kennel to hide. You have to understand why, though. I remember those days when my daughters played summer ball - the days when I would rush home from work, and while still wearing my dress clothes, and in 5 minutes, get the kids dressed and run them to the field (usually late) in 100+ degree weather to watch them play t-ball or softball at a field with little to no shade, sweating like crazy and yelling at my girls to, "watch the ball hit the bat!" or encouraging them with a, "you can do it!" or scolding them to, "stand up and pay attention!" I also, much to my shame now, remember thinking (and sometimes voicing my opinion) that the person in charge was either "a good coach" or one that "only did it so their kids could play". Quite often it was, "What the hell is this person thinking?"
As a man who had played baseball my entire childhood all the way up through college, who knows the sport like the back of my hand, and who really, REALLY wanted his kids to enjoy sports as much as he did, it was difficult keeping quiet outside the fence. Thank goodness for my wife back then. She tended to keep me under control somewhat, and I knew if she was yelling then it was OK for me to yell, too. I just couldn't do more than she did, or I was in trouble. Thing is, I would choose to focus my attention on my kids and not really the coach, especially during practice, because, with a few exceptions, I figured I knew better than the coach did.
I know, I know - that sounds like I'm on a high horse and snooty and that I'm "all that". Yup, I guess so, but stop it. You did it, too! We all do, even coaches. We are human, we are competitive and we all want our kids to be successful. I know this because I see your posts about it! I could write a book about parents and their kids during sporting events (my dad was one of those) and I could probably include myself in it.
Let's face it. Some people just shouldn't be coaches. Some are just in it because they were roped in and no one else would do it. They don't really understand the game, and are just filling a spot. (Lord, help them!) Some think they know what they're doing even though it's obvious they don't. (These are the ones that teach the children incorrectly. We all know those. Lord help US!) However, I have to give it to the coaches who take the time every year to try and teach these young ones the game from the ground up. It's really not that easy...
To give you some background, I've had the distinct honor of being a parent to two wonderful, beautiful and talented daughters who played softball for Kid's Inc as long as they could. I think they could really have gone much further than they did, but in the interest of not shoving my goals for them (sports-wise) in their faces, we decided to let them play if they wanted, or not play. It was always their choice. It wasn't easy for them, though. Like I said, I grew up playing "the game" and was somewhat successful at it. That meant I was extra tough on them...Yikes, right? So when they didn't want to play, I may have coaxed them into it, or just dealt with it that summer.
Secondly, I've also had the distinct honor of being a coach and umpire for four years when I was younger. I coached, with my roommate back in college, a Little League baseball team for two years, then umpired baseball and softball for a community (not Woodward) for a summer, then coached 7th grade softball for a summer. Folks, I'm here to tell ya, it just ain't easy. Dealing with kids can be difficult, but sometimes, dealing with parents during a game is not much easier! In fact, during a coaches meeting my second year coaching, one of the old timers who'd been coaching for years, voiced, "The game would be easier, the kids would learn more and have more fun if we just wouldn't allow parents to show up!" I agree and here's why.
As a coach of summer league ball, you aren't just focused on one kid. These aren't the high school kids who already know the game. You have (hopefully) 9 or more kids to keep an eye on and to train properly. You have to deal with the shy kid, the mean kid, the smelly kid, the goofy kid and the one that doesn't get along with anyone but really tries to, and the one that is truly an athlete. You get the kids that have played forever and the ones that just today decided to play for the first time. Not only that, you have to give them ALL the best of your time. You have to find which position they'll truly be good at (not the one the parent thinks their kid needs to play) and you have to teach them how to play that position. You have to teach them to not be afraid of the ball, keep their eye on the ball and to close their mitt when the ball lands inside it. Then you have to teach them to bat properly, and depending on the age, which direction to run should they actually get a hit. Oh, and the fun thing is, during summer ball, you usually have about a two weeks (maybe 4-5 practices) to do all this in!
As a coach at this level, you have to separate your innate desire to win, win, win and teach the kid HOW to win, win, win while taking into consideration these aren't little adults we're dealing with. They want to have fun, fun, fun and trust me, when a kid wants to have fun, and is mixed in with a bunch of other kids that want to have fun - they're going to have fun one way or the other! You have to love kids and love the sport your coaching, or you'll burn out faster than a Wal-Mart brand light bulb.
The coach at this level not only does this, sees the entire team as a TEAM, but realizes they are a bunch of individuals at this point. They see who gets along with whom, they see who is having a good day or a bad day, they see the lazy ones who never show up to practice or just stand around, the ones with potential, the ones that are truly gifted. They know the criers, they know the haters, they know the ones that are poison to a team. And, they usually spend a good majority of their free time trying to put these kid in a position that will help the team be successful. IF they are lucky, they might be able to build up a team that will win.
Now, throw in the unknown variable. The parents. Each year I coached I wondered if I was going to get the parents who thought they knew more than me, that were the "experts" (like me, haha!) who grew up with the game. The yellers, or the ones that were quiet, but would "talk" to their friends about you. The ones that wanted their kid to do great - not necessarily the team. The ones that just KNEW their kid was going to be the pitcher or catcher and NEVER the right fielder. Or if I'd get lucky and get a bunch of vocally supportive parents. Believe it or not, for every one or two haters, there are 6-7 who think you're doing great - they just don't say it so you don't know it.
From my point of view as a parent and as a coach, it was easier to coach from your car than it was the bench. Almost all the stress in a game came from outside the fence, not inside it. What's more, the kids knew it, too. As an umpire, I saw many kids when their parents started to yell at me or the coaches. Their faces changed, they got embarrassed or sad. Their shoulders would slump and all enthusiasm would drain from them. They really stopped having fun. In fact, I'd lay dollars on the table that they wished they could do anything else than play that game at that moment. As an example, after one particularly rough umpiring gig of 8 and under softball girls, one of the girls came up to me and actually apologized for her dad and told me I was a good umpire and that I should just ignore him. How sad is that?
I do have to say, despite this blog sounding negative, coaching isn't unpleasant. It's work, but it's really a lot of fun! I had a lot of laughs while I was coaching. Also, I loved teaching the sport to the kids. I guess that showed, because I had a parent come up to me after the last game of the season the year I coached 7th grade girls softball and tell me that they loved how I would take the time to teach the girls right then how to do something when they struck out or dropped a ball or misplayed or whatever. Another couple of parents asked if I'd be willing to coach during the school year because they thought I was great at it! (I didn't tell them I only coached that season because I actually got "roped" into doing it, haha! I can't imagine going through what an actual coach for a school goes through.) We only won one game that season, but it was truly fun. I saw the girls grow a lot, including my youngest daughter, and I got to coach her last season of playing. Now THAT was worth it.
I guess my whole point is that as parents and coaches we all need to remember that the coaches during summer league are all voluntary and that they have taken a lot on their plate by accepting the position. It's quite an honor to be a coach - they are entrusted with our children and the knowledge of the game. We also have to remember WHY the kids are playing. Our time for playing is past, and yes, although we live vicariously through our children, we want our kids to be successful and it irritates us when we see what we think isn't right. We just need to remember that not all sides of the cube are showing at one time and there's a side (or two) that we just don't know about. Also, baseball, t-ball, softball, soccer, basketball, football - they're all just games. And games are supposed to be fun. Yes, be angry when we need to be because we're probably right, but also remember that our kids are watching us.
So, PLAY BALL and have a great time doing so!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Are we REALLY the "Friendliest Town in America"?
I don't know. I'm torn...I try to live by the mantra that character is what you show when you think no one is watching, so this question kind of befuddles me. Surely I'm not the only one!
Oh, and sorry for the length - I really need a blog. And I do promise I'm not being negative, I'm just asking this question to myself and wonder what others think.
Am I the only one that thinks Woodward spent more time trying to impress the Winn family and winning the Friendliest City in America award than it does actually trying to be a friendly city? Lately, I feel we'd be in the running for Fakest City in America for sure.
I look at what "Woodward" is doing currently and has been doing for the past few weeks, and what some people are saying in the news and on Facebook and wonder, "Where the heck is this Woodward you people are talking about? Why can't I see it?"
I mean, don't get me wrong, we definitely aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I can EASILY list off 5 towns in this part of Oklahoma alone that are friendlier than Woodward is on a daily basis. Especially when getting growled at in businesses I frequent - or even worse, no reply to a thank you (a simple you're welcome would be nice), people driving like they don't care who's in front of them or behind them, trash in parking lots (btw, I loved the nasty diaper I slid my foot against accidentally in my flip flops yesterday at Wal-Mart - with a trashcan less than 20 yards away, so for that person who feels it's ok to drop a crappy diaper in a parking space, thank you! [end sarcasm] Yes, I know it might have just fallen out, but it's not uncommon to see a nasty diaper in the Wal-Mart parking lot.), the lack of common courtesy, people who you've known for years as acquaintances who won't even smile when they see you, and various things around town that need to be fixed up, but isn't being done (oh wait, they are NOW, after years of falling apart)... sigh, the list goes on.
Honestly, while I love the things Woodward has done to prepare for this and to celebrate being one of the "friendliest towns in America", I myself, as someone who has lived in Woodward more than half my life, would be MUCH more impressed if all these evening-time sales we've had at businesses that most usually cater to the unemployed (you can only shop there during the day - forget it if it's after 5:00), all these parties/get-togethers we've suddenly decided as a town we can afford and found reasons to have, all these smiling faces, the clean up/beautification, and simple celebrations were being done when there actually isn't a title on the line or something other than simple fellowship to gain.
Yes, it's fun. Yes, people are in a great mood because of it, and even more importantly, it's what's going on NOW in Woodward. BUT, to me it just seems like we're one of those old western town with all it's false faces towards Main Street, all just so we LOOK good to everyone else. What's wrong with carrying this over and being this way ALL the time? How about in September, February, April, or June, instead of just on the 4th of July or December for Chrystal Christmas, or when one of our high school sports teams goes to state (by the way, not taking anything away from our high school athletes at all, but where are the celebrations for our other high school groups that go to state and have actually won? Where is THEIR celebration? Sigh, I guess that's a different rant for a different time.) I guess I'm just asking, why can't we be this way ALL the time?
Or, what if this is a wake up call for Woodward? We need to actually BE friendly on regular days and not only on "special" occasions or holidays and actually earn this title, not just put on a face to win a contest. We have it in us to be that town. I've seen it, you've seen and it feels good. So, will we actually take it and deserve the reward? Or will we just wait to do it all again whenever the next big thing comes along?
Oh, and sorry for the length - I really need a blog. And I do promise I'm not being negative, I'm just asking this question to myself and wonder what others think.
Am I the only one that thinks Woodward spent more time trying to impress the Winn family and winning the Friendliest City in America award than it does actually trying to be a friendly city? Lately, I feel we'd be in the running for Fakest City in America for sure.
I look at what "Woodward" is doing currently and has been doing for the past few weeks, and what some people are saying in the news and on Facebook and wonder, "Where the heck is this Woodward you people are talking about? Why can't I see it?"
I mean, don't get me wrong, we definitely aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I can EASILY list off 5 towns in this part of Oklahoma alone that are friendlier than Woodward is on a daily basis. Especially when getting growled at in businesses I frequent - or even worse, no reply to a thank you (a simple you're welcome would be nice), people driving like they don't care who's in front of them or behind them, trash in parking lots (btw, I loved the nasty diaper I slid my foot against accidentally in my flip flops yesterday at Wal-Mart - with a trashcan less than 20 yards away, so for that person who feels it's ok to drop a crappy diaper in a parking space, thank you! [end sarcasm] Yes, I know it might have just fallen out, but it's not uncommon to see a nasty diaper in the Wal-Mart parking lot.), the lack of common courtesy, people who you've known for years as acquaintances who won't even smile when they see you, and various things around town that need to be fixed up, but isn't being done (oh wait, they are NOW, after years of falling apart)... sigh, the list goes on.
Honestly, while I love the things Woodward has done to prepare for this and to celebrate being one of the "friendliest towns in America", I myself, as someone who has lived in Woodward more than half my life, would be MUCH more impressed if all these evening-time sales we've had at businesses that most usually cater to the unemployed (you can only shop there during the day - forget it if it's after 5:00), all these parties/get-togethers we've suddenly decided as a town we can afford and found reasons to have, all these smiling faces, the clean up/beautification, and simple celebrations were being done when there actually isn't a title on the line or something other than simple fellowship to gain.
Yes, it's fun. Yes, people are in a great mood because of it, and even more importantly, it's what's going on NOW in Woodward. BUT, to me it just seems like we're one of those old western town with all it's false faces towards Main Street, all just so we LOOK good to everyone else. What's wrong with carrying this over and being this way ALL the time? How about in September, February, April, or June, instead of just on the 4th of July or December for Chrystal Christmas, or when one of our high school sports teams goes to state (by the way, not taking anything away from our high school athletes at all, but where are the celebrations for our other high school groups that go to state and have actually won? Where is THEIR celebration? Sigh, I guess that's a different rant for a different time.) I guess I'm just asking, why can't we be this way ALL the time?
Or, what if this is a wake up call for Woodward? We need to actually BE friendly on regular days and not only on "special" occasions or holidays and actually earn this title, not just put on a face to win a contest. We have it in us to be that town. I've seen it, you've seen and it feels good. So, will we actually take it and deserve the reward? Or will we just wait to do it all again whenever the next big thing comes along?
What the heck am I doing this for?
A blog? Seriously? You're 45 years old and you want to put your thoughts and opinions out where people can, gasp, comment and give THEIR opinions on YOUR opinions? Are you CRAZY? Hasn't the last 20 years taught you anything?
Yeah, I think I am crazy. But, I do this because I want to write. I've got stuff stored in my head that needs to get out because it's taking up too much space. I've been a writer since college, where I wrote absolutely horrifying music and concert reviews with a partner who knew less than me, I think, about music. (But she was dang good looking! Oh, to have the priorities of a young man again...) Oh, and I started but never finished something like 10-12 "novels" during that time as well. I spent hours working on those things - which, by the way, I found the other day and I spent several minutes horrified by what I thought would be the next greatest thing written back in the day...
Following up with my writing "experience", I worked as a reporter and editor for the local newspaper, have taken writing classes, and even have taught writing to 5th graders for 8 years before becoming a 2nd grade teacher where we write sentences and short paragraphs, lol. All this, and I'm still just a mediocre writer, haha! So watch out! Here comes some of the most bland writing you have EVER read!
Anyways, so after writing yet another rather lengthy "note" on Facebook, I noticed that more and more of my facebook postings were turning into "Notes" instead of "Updates". I also noticed no one commented on them, haha! I figured that I needed to find another venue for my "rants". I also realized several of my friends were starting this "blog" trend. I figured that instead of just writing those there and boring people to tears, I'd come here and bore a whole NEW set of people to tears!
Honestly, I have no direction with this thing. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it. I don't even know how often I'll write in it. Being as I'm "older", most will probably sound like rants or negativity. Just go with it - I'm old! A befuddled, yet somewhat amusing and handsome old, but still old. Ish.
So, here goes. And by the way, if any of you publishers out there that just MIGHT be reading blogs like this - I have a few ideas for novels sitting in my desk - give me a call! We can do lunch at the Pollyanna. You'll LOVE it!
Yeah, I think I am crazy. But, I do this because I want to write. I've got stuff stored in my head that needs to get out because it's taking up too much space. I've been a writer since college, where I wrote absolutely horrifying music and concert reviews with a partner who knew less than me, I think, about music. (But she was dang good looking! Oh, to have the priorities of a young man again...) Oh, and I started but never finished something like 10-12 "novels" during that time as well. I spent hours working on those things - which, by the way, I found the other day and I spent several minutes horrified by what I thought would be the next greatest thing written back in the day...
Following up with my writing "experience", I worked as a reporter and editor for the local newspaper, have taken writing classes, and even have taught writing to 5th graders for 8 years before becoming a 2nd grade teacher where we write sentences and short paragraphs, lol. All this, and I'm still just a mediocre writer, haha! So watch out! Here comes some of the most bland writing you have EVER read!
Anyways, so after writing yet another rather lengthy "note" on Facebook, I noticed that more and more of my facebook postings were turning into "Notes" instead of "Updates". I also noticed no one commented on them, haha! I figured that I needed to find another venue for my "rants". I also realized several of my friends were starting this "blog" trend. I figured that instead of just writing those there and boring people to tears, I'd come here and bore a whole NEW set of people to tears!
Honestly, I have no direction with this thing. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it. I don't even know how often I'll write in it. Being as I'm "older", most will probably sound like rants or negativity. Just go with it - I'm old! A befuddled, yet somewhat amusing and handsome old, but still old. Ish.
So, here goes. And by the way, if any of you publishers out there that just MIGHT be reading blogs like this - I have a few ideas for novels sitting in my desk - give me a call! We can do lunch at the Pollyanna. You'll LOVE it!
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