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Our Daily Thread 3-31-15

Good Morning!

The header is our new plant. 🙂

Thank you all!

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Today is this guy’s birthday. From CHAARTS 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wapqrTbs-S8

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Anyone have a QoD?

50 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 3-31-15”

  1. It surely is pretty.

    😦 I paid this guy from jChemlawn to spread fertilize all over my yard.
    It rained in top of it yesterday morning.

    😦 Guess what I have to do today?
    And it ain’t even April yet.

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  4. Good morning. It is the last day of the session and its looks like RFRA won’t make it to the floor for a vote. 😦
    A sad day in Georgia. I am thinking those who do not want it do not realize this is a slippery slope to the eventual loss of what they consider to be their own freedom.
    I suppose the Governor could still do something, but from all the hoopla going on in Indiana, I know he probably would like to avoid all that excitement.

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  6. This probably could go on the Political Thread, but I am making it a question of the day. First off, I have already voted so you nor I can change my vote now.

    We have a property tax referendum to support the County School System. It is to renew the 5 mil tax that came up for renewal after 30 years. Next we had a NEW 3 mil tax increase to vote on.
    1: My very first reaction to this as a realtor was absolutely we have to do this to maintain/increase property values. We have very few >5 private schools in this county which is the size of Rhode Island.
    2: I and others realized that by putting the renewal and the NEW proposed tax increase on the ballot that we ran the risk of people who were against the tax increase also voting against the renewal.
    3: WHAT THE SCHOOLS HAVE DONE
    They spent approximately $150,000 to pay for advertising from school funds.
    They have emails, texted, and auto-dialed us to death
    They were registering all 18 years olds to vote and giving them a “practice ballot”. They were going to use school buses to take them to the polls to vote. (The day is young and as far as I know this has not happened yet)
    They have sent home sentences to diagram “I hope this new school tax passes so that I may have an education”
    They have “taught” the tax increase in many ways in the classroom.

    The contrarian in me wanted to vote AGAINST it just to show them their heavy handed tactics were backfiring.

    Like I said, I have already voted, but what are your thoughts on something like this?

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  8. I used to vote for property tax increases a lot more often when I was renting. 🙂 (Although it still kind of gets “passed on” to everyone, one way or the other).

    At any rate, there’s always a school bond floating around somewhere in California & LA County, but our schools are kind of a mess, no matter how much $$ they seem to get.

    And since I’m ranting about public education, one of my best friends is an LA school teacher — very hard working, a great teacher, puts in way more than 40 hours a week. But the teachers union is always whining that the teachers are underpaid. My friend makes over $70,000 a year, which I don’t consider a low salary (it’s a whole lot more than I make in journalism, that’s for sure). She earns it, as I said, she’s a hard worker and completely dedicated to teaching, they’re lucky to have her — but I’ve heard about a lot of other teachers (from her & others I know) who just ride it out, do as little as possible, waiting out their plush pensions — and they always show up at all the rallies screaming about how they’re underpaid. Argh.

    I’m not anti-union. They have been (and are still) needed in many industries to protect workers. But some of them get so big and so powerful that they become the flip side of the corporation or other employer they’re opposing — they become just as ornery and just as powerful and bullying.

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  9. And speaking to Kim’s point, the unions get the kids to attend rallies and other events to campaign for bond measures here, too. They’re a captive and easily persuaded audience.

    I pick up the Jeep this morning, had to get new rear brakes + new tires + the usual oil/filter changes — and I had a blown fuse. The rear and front left running lights were out; I’d replaced the bulbs and last time the mechanic replaced the whole mechanism in the rear light, but within a month is was out again. So they finally located the problem this morning and he said it’ll be ready by 8:30. It’ll be expensive, but worth it to have it all done as that’s been hanging over me a while and it was really all overdue.

    Janice, you’re right, they’re watching what’s happening to Indiana with the blowback and no other state will probably dare to go there now. Crazy since this was basically a Clinton initiative from the early ’90s, but go figure.

    It’s not the 1990s anymore.

    I have to do the LA-wide Easter story again for several of the papers. Today and tomorrow is all the time I have as I’m taking off Thursday & Friday.

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  10. Kim, I’ve seen the numbers that there is a very poor correlation between amount of money per pupil and quality of education. Throwing money at schools just doesn’t seem like an effective way to fix problems. (That doesn’t mean it’s never what is needed, but just that it isn’t a magic fix. Bad teachers don’t become good teachers by being paid more money, nor does hiring more supplementary staff increase teaching success. And going high-tech is definitely not a guaranteed road to success.)

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  12. Kim, I suspect that campaign will backfire. It sounds like a big effort to do a lot of arm-twisting. Those who were solidly in favor, as it sounds like you were initially, would have cause to rethink voting yes because of that coercion. Those who were strongly against it are probably not going to be swayed by the idea that “we need more money so our students can get an education.” (How do homeschooled children in big families living in small homes with parents who have precious few dollars to teach them still get an education, and an effective one at that, much of the time?) And likely those who were on the fence, I am guessing, will not appreciate the “you must vote yes if you care about the children” message coming repeatedly from many different directions.

    It’s overkill, in my opinion, and they’re shooting themselves in the foot. More money doesn’t equal better education, or more caring, I think most people realize, except those blinded by the screaming unions.

    And a large percentage of the increases in funding often go to pay the salaries of high-ranking members of the administration, anyway, people who aren’t in direct contact with the children being educated in the system.

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  14. AJ, I really enjoyed the Bach today. I have a CD with that recording, but it was nice to actually see it performed on the video, watching how the melody was passed from one of the violin soloists to the other.

    Also, AJ, I wanted to let you know that if I can help take any pressure off you this week with everything you have going on, I would be happy to provide a “video of the day” if you’d like, in lieu of your posting one. I have a list of classical composer’s birthdays bookmarked, and could post a video in the comments section anytime this week so that you don’t have to take time to hunt for some. I would enjoy doing that on a temporary basis, to help you out, if need be.

    No obligation to take me up on my offer, but I’d be glad to assist, if that would be helpful. 🙂

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  16. Kim, One thing I agree with my mom about is that the schools will never have enough money. Gym equipment, ball fields etc. all just get more and more elaborate. Teachers will also never make enough—just because we are all like that. Starting salaries can be impossible to live on, while those higher up are more than adequate. Districts are different all over, of course.

    We had that coercion happen where we live. The board was sued and they lost the lawsuit; meaning what they did was illegal. Yet, nothing was really done about it and the schools were long built/added onto. Bad/illegal/unethical behavior was rewarded. That will surely make it happen again and again.

    One can only try to divorce all of that and try to think about what would be best for the children. That is not always easy to determine. It is not always what is ultimately carried out, even though it is what schools are supposed to be about.

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  17. morning all. A very quiet week here as most everything has been cancelled for school break. Trying to keep busy.
    God is good. I was invited out for three meals in a row and had leftovers for dinner – blessed.

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  18. Editing a manuscript that’s a transcript, one can come upon some interesting errors. Here’s today’s: “The grace of God also shows up at the end carnation.” (I suppose next they will say Jesus became a rose.)

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  19. Unions for public employees, Bah! Humbug! They are all politics and only politics. I didn’t agree with anything they wanted, ever. But they took money from me.

    One time the union for Los Angeles City Schools, United Teacher’s Los Angeles (UTLA), was forced to take a vote on whether the union supported abortion. Out of 42,000+ in the bargaining unit, a little less than 4,000 voted that the Union should takea stand. A few more than 10,000 said the union should take no position on abortion. 28,000 didn’t vote. This was the only vote that was put to the whole union about anything except whether to go on strike, or to accept a contract. I resented that I was not given a ballot; I paid for their representation but since I didn’t pay full union dues I couldn’t vote.

    Why do unions insist on closed shops? I didn’t want their representation.

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  20. I truly believe individualized learning is the best route for students to excell and that no amount of public funding can provide that Teachers who have their hearts engaged with the students and have small classes are next best thing. More classrooms and more good teachers could provide that, but teachers only there to do the least and get full pay and benefits…they do more harm than good. I think a lot of the union people are in it for greed rather than for the good for which they were originally designed.

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  21. I am not feeling so well today. I feel there is a cold incubating. Reason enough to not get out in the pollen and mow? I really hope husband can bypass it. My brother recently had one and said it was going around in his church. On Sunday a choir member said they were all pretty hoarse from something but had to sing that big program. So I guess it is our time to get it.

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  23. As an example from my own life, I think I did not get much instruction in the Bible at home. I recently asked my brother if he remembered having Bible stories read to him as a child. He told me he did, and then the background. Because of having diabetes from age two, he was in to see the doctor more than I was. He found a Bible story book in the waiting room and got a card out of it to send in a request for a book. My parents were unaware that he did that. When it arrived my parents required that he pay for it. He said my mother did read it to him. He later became a Christian in high school, but I did not. It is funny how when we are on the downhill of life that we finally get bits and pieces enough about our lives that we never knew before that helps in making sense of it all.

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  24. Cheryl @ 12:20.
    That was likely a “correction” by a transcriber who didn’t understand the original. And the author, having re-read it 75 times, didn’t catch it. It’s good that you did.

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  26. Re” I know how it is to write something and revise it so many times that the words lose their impact. I was writing a report for NASA one time and after several writings and rewrites. I gave it to Lynn S. to read for me. He pointed out something I said. We all had a laugh, and that followed me for years. I had written:
    “A preliminary perusal of the parameters shows ……….”

    😆

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  32. Struggling with jet lag; haven’t slept more than a few hours in the last four days (note to anyone: if you’re staying in a B&B, make sure the church bells don’t chime every half hour 24/7!). Had to write a blog post, so I just put together thoughts on what I’ve observed and some photos, if anyone is interested: http://wp.me/p3HcoH-21W

    With no food in the refrigerator, I’m off to the store then to run an errand for a daughter-in-law and THEN hopefully will get a nap. Breezy sunny day in Northern California; I’ve had to water the trees this morning and done five loads of laundry. House cleaner was here, too, which was fun. She and her husband are taking their first post-wedding (four years ago) vacation in August to England. She was delighted when I handed her our leftover pounds, change and two Oyster passes for the tube!

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  34. You’re right; schools will never have enough money and teachers (and everyone else) will never be paid enough. If we just didn’t have a school bond in EVERY election, I’d be happier about voting for them, sigh.

    And I hate how they use the kids and threaten to take away chalk, paper, libraries, nurses and custodial help, first.

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  35. When I was young and we played outside a lot, at the end of the day I sometimes had a dark ring around my neck where dirt collected and that was called my “sweat beads.

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  37. That’s what I was thinking, Cheryl (about theology discussions). And I remember you mentioning something about split pea soup and how someone in your household doesn’t like it, but I couldn’t remember if it was you or your husband. (I thought it was one of you two, but maybe one or both of your daughters, as well?)

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  40. My husband and I have had 35mm cameras for many years, and have never upgraded to digital. Now it’s getting hard to find places that will develop 35mm film, but we did find one last place in our area that does it (but only for a short time longer, they say).

    Last week we took six undeveloped color rolls in for processing. We hadn’t had any developed for a long time, as it had gotten more expensive over the years, and as our family grew, that was a low budget priority. (Okay, we didn’t have a photo-developing category budgeted at all.) We just always needed the money for more important things.

    Anyway, while decluttering around the house lately, I discovered those six rolls (plus two rolls of black and white, which my husband didn’t want to take to the same place until he knew more about how they do black and white processing — I guess it varies).

    Yesterday I went to pick up the pictures.

    Seventy-eight dollars. For six rolls of color film. Single prints, not double.

    Holy cow. I had enough money, but I didn’t think it would be that much!

    One roll was from ten years ago. Third Arrow had her PICC line in her arm from her long-term IV antibiotic treatment for Lyme Disease. That was when she was seven years old. She turns 18 next month.

    Another roll shows two of my girls standing by an empty bassinet, anticipating the arrival of their youngest sister, who is now seven.

    Looking through all the pictures brought back a lot of memories (and some of them are recent, not nearly so far in the past as the above examples), but I sure wish I had gone and gotten those pics developed at a time when it was a much more common and less expensive venture than it is now!

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  41. Third Arrow has an inexpensive digital camera, so we do have a way of getting pictures in a more modern way. 😉 (Not to mention that our cell phones and 4th Arrow’s tablet have picture-taking capabilities, as well.)

    Looks like I’ve been talking to myself for over an hour here, though I’ve been off doing other things, too, so I’ll quit hogging the thread now. 🙂

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  44. Oh no. This is sad news for Chas.

    Gary Dahl, the man behind (the pet rock) scheme — described variously as a marketing genius and a genial mountebank — died on March 23 at 78. A down-at-the-heels advertising copywriter when he hit on the idea, he originally meant it as a joke. But the concept of a “pet” that required no actual work and no real commitment resonated with the self-indulgent ’70s, and before long a cultural phenomenon was born.

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  45. You’re welcome, AJ. 🙂 I’ve got two videos picked out now, one for tomorrow and one Thursday. Can’t promise I’ll be here at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time either day, but eventually they’ll get posted!

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  49. We are back and all is well. The surgery seems to have had a huge impact on the RA. Most of the swelling and pain are gone. The knee pain is almost nonexistent.

    So sorry to hear about your mom, the real. Weeping with you.

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