Something I Like to See

My town seems to really be stepping up and dealing with economic reality. Local teachers have agreed to a pay freeze, step freeze, and paying more for their health care. Police, firefighters, city council and the mayor are also not getting raises for the next year. I'm proud! How many of you or your loved ones have gotten raises any time recently? I don't even remember the last time Mr. BTEG saw a raise. It's difficult for everyone, but if our family's income is not increasing, I don't want to lose more out of our paychecks for local services. That makes sense, doesn't it?

Don't get me started on health care. I will say that I posted a while ago on how adults up to 26 years old will be able to be on their parents' policies. A teacher at our church, who works at a small parochial school, has now lost her health insurance for herself and her daughters because of this. The school cannot afford to pay for the extra people who would have to be covered, so they just dropped health care insurance altogether. We are really helping "the workers," "the little people," aren't we?

Holiday Parade

The family attended the local Memorial Day parade today. The Musician marched in the high school marching band. The Dancer's friend rode on a float created by the local dance school. (I like the school the Dancer attends better.) Lots of flags and red, white and blue. Also lots of candy tossed by paraders. After the parade there was a small program at the local cemetery. I have blogged about the cemetery here.

I'm getting over awkwardness at thanking a member of the military in person for his service. I still find any kind of Memorial Day tribute I can put into words, embarrassingly cheesy. Still feeling it, all the same.

Bad Weather

Our little bit of excitement for the night was going to the Dancer's orchestra concert and being told before the program started that everyone needed to get to the basement. Seeing how the weather was shaping up on the way to the school, I was really not surprised. Before everyone got down the basement, however, the superintendent showed up and told everyone that the concert was canceled and everyone should go home, as the bad weather went by us. The Dancer was not pleased about having her concert canceled almost literally at the last minute, but I imagine they will reschedule it.

This has been an awful spring, hasn't it? So many people have lost their lives, have lost family members, pets, possessions, their homes. The Evil Genius family has its own problems right now, but we also have so much that is good.

Just heard the emergency blurb squawk from the television. Going to see what's up now. May be just a flood warning, though.

Go Kasich

Our governor gave a very good reply to our president, who likes to meddle in state politics; basically, it was that the president better get his own policies in order before he criticizes anyone else.

Also, the president's remarks about shared sacrifice and the burden not falling on just one group of people, infuriates me. The rest of the people here in Ohio that have to work for a living are already suffering. The people who are fortunate enough to even have jobs are finding it harder to make ends meet, while our president plays golf, throws lavish parties, and jets around the nation to appear on talk shows, and the world to give our hard-earned money to other nations. It's about time that union workers see what the world is like for the rest of us.

All Good Things

I love the Greater Cleveland area. I've lived here for most of my forty-something years on earth. I wanted to live here for the rest of my earthly years. But as my readers in this country probably know, the state of Ohio is on the downturn, and the city of Cleveland is trying hard to be the next Detroit. Here's the latest on our race to the bottom: enormous water fee hikes. And why? Because of "falling revenues and declining consumption." That's right; there is less water usage so you get to pay more. Not only that, but most of the increase will be "a fixed fee charged to all customers regardless of how much water they use." So you won't be able to save money out of the new enormous fees even by cutting back on what water you do use.

I also see that the water company is a billion dollars in debt. How does a company that provides a service get that far into debt? In the real world, a business that was losing that much money would go under or cut drastically. From both first hand and anecdotal knowledge, the water company is terrible at both billing and customer service already. But is the problem not enough workers, or incompetent workers? If you've ever dealt with bureaucracy before, I bet you have an answer for that.

So I'm starting to think about our options once our daughters are out of the local school district. It would hurt me for the rest of my life to have to leave this area, but you know what happens to all good things....

Unrest in Ohio?

Honestly, I haven't been following Ohio's S.B.5 as I should have been. Of course, I don't trust Cleveland's local rag to tell anything but the far-left side of the story, so I avoid them as a source of news. I'm thinking I should get on some sort of news feed to get stories in which I have an interest.

I was glad that S.B.5 passed, but I'm wondering about this story from The Other McCain, in which a lawyer representing the Ohio FOP tells a Ohio Senator who voted for the bill, "Funny thing about cops, they hold grudges." Fortunately, the guy was dumb enough to do it on Facebook, where it was screencapped for posterity. Does this sound like a threat to you? Should Senator LaRose be looking out for a horse head on his bed next??

Education and Being Exceptional

So would you go to see Juan Williams and Hugh Hewitt if you had the chance? They are coming to the greater Cleveland area on some kind of tour to promote changing our educational system to promote school choice and America's ranking internationally. I know Juan Williams has been mugged by liberalism, but from some things I've read (I don't watch Fox News or any other TV news program) it seems he is still toeing the liberal party line on a lot of things. Hugh Hewitt, I don't remember too much of what I've read or heard about him except that he was pushing Mitt Romney, which is not a plus in my book.

I'd also like your input on what you think "American exceptionalism" means. Should Americans strive to be number one? Yes. Will we always get there? No. For that matter, why should be be exceptional in anything other than our system of government? Yes, we've been blessed in that we have a large country with many resources and strategical advantages (such as ports in the Atlantic and Pacific.) But I don't think America has to or will be number one in everything, all the time. What do you think about that?

Businesses Are Evil

The other week I skimmed the headlines of the local newspapers at the grocery store, and saw that American Greetings, a local greeting card company, with product carried nationwide, is once again making noises about leaving their current headquarters. They claim to want another city where they can pay fewer taxes, and are suggesting they may even leave the state. What's funny about this is that they worship Ear Leader to the extent that they created a Christmas ornament of him a couple of years ago. They were probably disappointed that it wasn't prominently featured next to that other fascist dictator, Mao, on the White House Christmas tree.

Anyway, yes, the company has been solidly Democrat for decades. So, Mr. CEO of American Greetings, I need to tell you something. Don't be a greedy fat cat. At some point, you have made enough money. You need to spread the wealth, especially for all those children in your headquarter town. The city is only levying taxes for your own good.

As for the city itself, well, I don't know how high their tax rate is, but I do know that they are proud of being the first city to have a seat belt law, and they also have a no cell phone while driving law. So the leaders of this town also seem to be pretty happy to tell others what to do. This Dem on Dem squabbling is funny, except the prospect of losing thousands of area jobs? Not quite so funny.

I Hate Guilt

I am excited about the changes that I see coming up in the political world. I like the idea of more conservative candidates, who actually listen to constituents and are real people instead of elites. But it nags me that I'm not doing anything to help. I hate cold calling. Heck, I hate calling people who I do know, but not very well. Would prefer not to have any yard signs at this moment. Signed up with Americans for Prosperity, and I understand they are still getting things underway, but the "local" events they have held so far would have been about 30-45 minutes away from me. I also hate knocking on strange doors. Knocked on a few neighbors' doors to try to help the Dancer sell magazines for her school, and it was *excruciating*. I know some of you who read my blog can identify with this. I do believe in conservative principles, but then I also believe Christianity and would not want to knock on strange doors "selling" it. Will still try my best to spread conservative ideas where I can.

The Whirlwind of Life

Life has not slowed down; it has instead gotten more hectic. I think I have been more tired in the last couple of days than I have been my entire life. Sure, in high school and college, I burned the candle at both ends often, but I was also a lot younger and so I think I bounced back more quickly. The past couple of days I was operating on auto-pilot, and not doing well when I had to go off-course. This caused a lot of laughter for those around me, especially when I ended up asking for scrambled pancakes at the IHOP yesterday.

Friday night was the first high school football game, and the Musician's first night in the marching band. The place was absolutely packed, on both sides, since the rival high school directly adjoins our town. I find it interesting the way they have the home team stands set up. One section was for season ticket holders (yes, seriously,) three sections were general admission, one section was for the high schoolers, and one section was for students at the middle school and intermediate school.

We saw quite a few people we knew. Our GP was there, our favorite phlebotomist (who is now a stay-at-home mom and who we called our vampire,) a young man who works at the local grocery store, and of course lots of teachers and students the girls know. Thursday night a young woman who taught the Musician's riding classes came to the marching band preview. She could very well have been in the crowd on Friday night, since the place was so full you couldn't see everyone.

Mr. BTEG worked one of the concession stands Friday night; the profits go to the band, and all band parents have to help with some of the fundraisers. Yes, fundraisers can be a pain. On the other hand, our band room is beautifully appointed, the uniforms are nice, and we don't have a pay-to-play system like some local schools do. Concessions did a booming business; they were pretty much out of everything by the time the game ended. Some other group was doing a Krispy Kreme fundraiser which also seemed very popular. I will have to find out where the donuts are next time!

This was my first Friday night football game! My high school had so little money at the time I attended that our football field did not have lights, so all games were on Saturday afternoon.

It seems to me that people give more readily when there is some sort of incentive. There was a Souper Bowl fundraiser for local food pantries that pitted the two schools competing against each other to see who could raise the most in money and nonperishable food donated. It did spectacularly well. Human nature, I suppose. Our side won the fundraiser, which is just as well, as the football team played poorly and lost the actual game. :)

Follow the Story

I don't know exactly why this unfolding story here in Cleveland strikes me as interesting, except that it shows first impressions are not always the right ones. A house exploded in a Cleveland neighborhood, damaging almost 60 homes. At first, fingers were pointed at the gas company which came out to the building that exploded to turn off the gas a day or two prior. But things have gotten intriguing now that police have revealed that a next-door neighbor who complained about the empty building was convicted twice of arson in another state, and plead guilty once for burning down his house for the insurance money! He is currently being charged with deliberately creating the explosion in this home.

I also wonder what society does with people like this. I hope at least that if this man and his wife had insurance on their current abode, that the insurance company did a background check and was charging an exorbitant fee, although somehow I don't see it. There's no consolation for the many people whose homes suffered damage because of this man's alleged reckless action. I'm wondering if he shouldn't get prison time for life if found guilty. Why trust him again?

I Grade It an F

Since I emailed my state representative about online charter school funding being cut, I guess I am now on her mailing list. I got an email from her a couple of days ago which is long on style but short on substance. Maybe representatives don't want to go into detail in an email, but this email did not thrill me.

"It is vitally important for our children to have the best education possible. I believe that preparing every student for the 21st century is the only way we can improve our current economic situation." If people really wanted children to have the best education possible, they would go with the methods that have actually been proven to work, instead of whatever is new and shiny. And I can think of many other good ways to improve our current economic situation.
1. Don't spend our money like a drunken sailor and do work on cutting the deficit.
2. Cut taxes so businesses will want to be in your area. (See Cleveland, Ohio for what not to do)
3. Quit trying to hurt small businesses with things like high taxes and inflated minimum wage. Also, don't hurt cottage industries with ridiculous restrictions like CPSIA.
What exactly does "preparing every student for the 21st century" really mean? I can't even say it sounds good any more as I am immune to catchphrases and buzzwords.

"While this is a significant reformation, a transition phase of ten years will make sure school districts have adequate time to adjust to all aspects of the new education plan." Okay, *what kind* of significant reformation are we talking about? That was not made clear at all. And ten years is long enough for schools to weasel out of changes for as long as possible and hope something new gets passed later. What on earth is so difficult to implement anyway that it will take ten years to do so?

All-day kindergarten will eventually be required. That's good. You are already doing a poor job in education, so let's require the students to receive this poor education for longer periods. Haven't they read that "advantages" like Head Start eventually are lost a few years down the road? How exactly will extra school hours for little ones, who should still have more free hours, help?

"We must continue to discuss Ohio's diverse education needs." Again as a good Lutheran I must ask, say it with me, "What does this mean?" All kids need to learn, and to retain at least some of what they learned. I say at least retain some of, because I certainly have not retained a great deal of what I was taught in school over the course of years. This is evidenced by my inability to help the Equestrienne with all of her grade school math, at least off the top of my own head. How much real "diversity" is required?

In the email there is a link to the governor's Conversation on Education. Sadly, my alarm bells are being set off here. For example: "A modern education must be directly linked to economic prosperity. Ohio cannot thrive without understanding that world class schools will produce a talented workforce, and a talented workforce will attract and create jobs." Ding, ding, ding! Yes, let's get that little proletariat started young. I don't think people are fleeing Ohio in droves because they don't have work skills. I think they are leaving because Ohio is doing its best to kill local jobs. (see above)

"We cannot address our education challenges without strengthening our commitment to public education. As a practical matter, the vast majority of Ohio children are and always will be educated in the public school system." Always will be? Goodness, I hope not. There are wonderful options such as homeschooling, charter schools, parochial schools and private schools. Let's think outside the box, people! Okay, charter schools are technically public, but they have a much better track record *overall* than your average public school.

"We must strive to develop a specific, personalized education program that identifies how each individual student learns and use the teaching methods appropriate to that student's needs and abilities." You're joking, right? A homeschool mom can do that, although not so much out of an inherent superiority (giving dues to public school teachers) as the fact that she has fewer students, and she knows them very well. The parochial school my daughter was in years ago offered personalized education. They didn't follow through.

"Our schools must excel internationally in our ability to foster creativity and innovation. Our educators must teach students to think past the limits of what's been done, and imagine what could be done." How about we just give them an education with a solid foundation, and they can grow and imagine from there? D-Ed Reckoning is a good place to go to find out how poorly trying to "foster creativity" works out in actual use. You can also read lots of discussions, as well as collected data, on what kinds of education work and what doesn't.

"We must educate the whole student. Education must be viewed as a joint responsibility of families, educators and communities." I'm all for a family being invested in its own children's education, although many teachers and schools really don't appreciate parental input. However, what are communities to do to help educate "the whole student"? I'm afraid "provide money" is largely the idea here. Maybe not.

Lastly, "we will reduce the property tax burden on local taxpayers by increasing the state share of school funding to 61 percent when the reform plan is fully phased-in." So, you're reducing local taxes only to increase state taxes. This helps me how?? Not to mention creating another layer of unneeded bureaucracy.

Children get the best education right now because parents either have enough knowledge in a subject to help their child out, or because parents are wealthy enough to afford tutors. For story after story on this subject, check out Kitchen Table Math. Is this fair? No. Should we depend on bureaucrats to fix everything? Definitely not. Honestly, I don't know for sure whether parental investment is necessary in a child's education. If so, there will always be children who just have parents who aren't willing to put in the effort. Yes, some parents did not get a good education themselves, and obviously most families can not afford to hire tutors. But there will always be some parents who just don't care. For those who do care about the education of children, I think I would tell them to look to the example of homeschoolers. Many parents teaching their children at home are doing so on a shoestring, without a fancy curriculum or lots of field trips. There is such a wealth of free information available to all, that those who want to learn can do so. And this goes along with my whole philosophy of not depending on the government. Why trust a suit in the capital building to take care of you? Nobody is as invested in your child, and what is best for them, as you!

Game Pieces

Two very popular hosts of a morning radio talk show here in Ohio have been let go. Clear Channel states that it is for economic reasons, but I can't really believe a company which seems to basically own all the radio stations in the country is hurting over and above. They are saving money, however, since the replacement DJ apparently has his show beamed from Los Angeles. The thing that saddened me was when I realized that all the people saying they will no longer listen to 106.5 don't really matter. If they listen to any other radio station instead, it is probably owned by Clear Channel also. What will really hurt Clear Channel is if people just start listening to their ipods or mp3 players or CDs instead of radio, and maybe people are already doing that. But if that's the case, why not keep what makes you different -- the talk show hosts? Without a live host, why listen to a music station that has become, in one commenter's words, a "jukebox" when you can tailor what you want with modern technology?

Interesting Road Experience

We saw a huge column of black smoke floating up to the sky while the Dancer, Mr. BTEG and I were on the way home tonight. When we came around a curve, we saw that it was an older mini-van going up in flames. Not only was the fire spectacular, but sparks were also shooting up every so often. The Dancer correctly surmised that it was very likely a lack of engine coolant that started the conflagration, but then we had a little episode of our own with our radiator leaking a couple weeks ago. Fortunately, we did not have our engine get hot enough to catch fire, and also fortunately, we were on the opposite side of the freeway from the fire, so we slowed down only enough for everybody to drive by and get a look, and take pictures with their cell phones.

The funny thing was that I was attempting to get over to the middle lane so Gino could attempt to take pictures. I turned on my turn signal only to have the car in the middle lane behind me speed up and honk at me. As he went by, I saw that he had WWJD on his license plate. I wonder how Jesus would drive, lol.

Light But Deadly?

A man was killed near where we live in a car collision while he was riding a scooter. This is what worries me about these light scooters and new teeny-tiny cars. They may be great on the gas mileage but they're not safe in an accident with any other type of vehicle except maybe an Amish buggy. Not to mention, around here I think they're a luxury, as I can't see driving them during our winters so they're not drivable year-round.

Cheap Pizza

My husband had to stand in line for over 2 hours, but he did get a 23 cent pizza. The restaurant he was at probably served close to 1,100 pizzas when all was said and done - they were starting to run out of ingredients just as he got in the door.

Griping

I forgot to mention a gripe I have at the moment. We live near a major U.S. city, so why don't we have an art gallery we can visit?? The Cleveland Museum of Art is undergoing major renovations, and although I believe there are a few small exhibitions, the main exhibits will not even be available until spring of next year, and then not even all of them. I don't doubt the need for renovations and expansion per se, but I think it's a bit much that an institution that would be so useful for teaching, to give but one of its uses to the metropolitan area, can be unavailable for so long. The renovations started in 2005, and won't be completely finished until 2011. Think of all the great opportunities being lost for kids right now.

Downside of the Beach Life

Apparently, Avon Lake, a city here in Lorain County just west of Cleveland, and right on Lake Erie, had higher cases of melanoma than expected from 1996 to 2002. Sure, living by a lake, it's fun to hang out at the beach, go boating or jet skiing, or just walk by the lake and enjoy the beautiful scenery. But we do live towards the north, so we get cold winter and grey days, when people aren't exactly out working on their tan. Maybe water reflection combined with the sun's rays has an even stronger effect than one would think?

They're Coming to Take It Away

A little background first. Metropolitan Cleveland occupies a large area; like many large cities it now occupies more than one county. The city of Akron, south in Summit County, is arguably a suburb of Cleveland. Metro Cleveland expands eastward into Lake County, all the way out to Painesville. And on the west side, everywhere out to the city of Lorain has become a suburb of Cleveland. I feel especially well qualified to talk about the west side of Cleveland, because I've lived there for most of my life. I spent the first twenty-four years of my life living in Bay Village, a suburb of Cleveland at the very edge of Cuyahoga County, the same county the city of Cleveland occupies. For the past six years we've been living in Lorain County.

There's lots of housing being built in Lorain County, especially in the cities closer to a)the lake and b)the city of Cleveland. Shopping and restaurants are popping up like mushrooms at one exit off of the interstate in Avon, OH. And there's been talk for years of building another freeway exit in Avon, a little further east. All this is good for Lorain County, whose mainstay for years was and to some extent still is automobile plants. As we've seen lately, these plants aren't reliable places to base an economy on, and in any case these jobs will likely become more obsolete as automation takes over.

Now to the interesting stuff. There is apparently a regional planning group called the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) which votes on measures concerning the local interstates. As I wrote above, Avon would like to build another freeway exit. Fortunately for Avon, the Cleveland Clinic wants to build a family medical center there. Unfortunately for Avon, the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County mayors want their cut. For 10 years. And those in Cuyahoga County on the NOACA are threatening to veto the freeway exit proposal, even though the city of Avon and the development group that owns the land currently would be paying for the project.

From my point of view, Cuyahoga County's demand for money is nothing but unmitigated greed. When the neighboring city of Westlake (in Cuyahoga County) was growing like wildfire along the interstate, did they offer to "share" their profits with neighboring cities? I would guess not. And mind you, this growth has occurred not only within my lifetime, but a great deal of it has taken place within the last twenty years. Does the city of Westlake owe the city of Rocky River tax revenue from its swanky and flourishing shopping development, Crocker Park? After all, the recent shopping and restaurant development in Westlake may very well have helped put the final nails in the coffin of Westgate Shopping Center in Rocky River, which is now a distant memory. For that matter, if Avon is "sharing" taxes with Cuyahoga County, does that mean that Avon residents could be allowed to use the city of Bay Village's lovely pool, or Westlake's fancy recreation center? Both of these are currently for city residents only. If Avon is paying taxes into these cities' coffers, shouldn't Avon residents be able to take advantage of these cities' benefits as well?

Yes, the city of Cleveland, and Cuyahoga County, are bleeding. They're losing hundreds of thousands of people, and losing jobs. However, instead of trying to reach out and grab what others are getting, perhaps they should take a good look in the mirror and try to fix their own problems. No, they'd rather just take from an area that is doing better. You know, this whole scheme sounds very familiar. I'm not surprised that the city government of Cleveland and the Cuyahoga County Commissioner are all from the same party. You guess which one.

It Can Happen Here

So I was just about to post about my own trivial little happenings when I see that yet another school shooting has taken place, this time right in Cleveland. I'm glad to have my kids at home with me right now, and I'm glad there seem to be no fatalities from this, apart from the shooter. Although it was of course wrong to shoot people, I'm sorry the young gunman seems to have taken his own life. I'm wondering when we'll start hearing about how this kid was never in trouble, etc.

I suppose the mayor will now call for stricter gun laws, or security at the school building, or something similar. I would want my children to hide from someone running around with a gun, but I would also want there to be someone similarly armed who could protect my children in a dangerous situation. Here's some great quotes: "Schools are supposed to be a safe place." With all the shootings that have happened in schools, can we really think like that anymore? Also, one parent says about security personnel that used to be in the school: "To take away the only source of protection is just not right." Well, if they allowed teachers who had a concealed carry permit to carry a firearm during the course of their work, there would be another source of protection, and without the cost of extra security. Isn't it time that politicians and school boards learned that simply forbidding guns in school will not keep guns out of schools?