Yes it’s “D” as in National Donut Day today. And that entitles you to a free donut at Dunkin’ Donuts (if you buy an overpriced beverage to go along with it). Apparently there’s some other celebration going on today as well.
Ah, yes, here it it: it was 70 years ago that the Allies stormed the beach at Normandy or, as I like to tell my wife, the when my people turned the tide of the war against her people – though, strictly speaking, “my” person was on the other side of the world in either China, Burma (which was most definitely not called Myanmar at the time), or India. Of course, the folks over in Europe got all the publicity. There are a few folks still around who fought in that war, but not very many (after all, if you were 18 70 years ago, you’re no spring chicken today).
I saw that the last Navajo “code talker” – Chester Nez – died a couple of days ago at 93. And of course my dad’s been gone for, shit, it’ll be 20 years in September. My how the years fly by when you’re spending most of them trying to get through one day at a time. One day you wake up and notice it’s just about over. How’s that for a happy thought? I blame my sunny outlook on things on my mother and Peggy Lee, since my mom loved that song “Is That All There Is?”
Anyhow, to those of you who are still around, thanks for all that saving us from the Nazis and the Nips and stuff. Sorry my generation turned out to be sort of lazy and useless, but, hey, you’re the ones who raised us.
On my way home last night, I saw a big dump truck about a mile from my house (not an unusual site, since we have a couple of quarries nearby) with the window down, and there’s a dog wandering around in the road by the truck so I kinda stop to make sure the dog isn’t gonna run in front of me. And she sees me stop so she runs over and jumps on my door, then comes around to the passenger side. So I open the door and in she jumps, all kinds of upset and wiggly and happy to see me.
I couldn’t exactly toss her out into the street, and I saw she had a Town dog tag on (but not one with her name and number on it, unfortunately) so I brought her home and gave her some food and water and let her run around my yard while I called the Town clerk, who was fortunately still in the office.
I read her the tag number and she was able to give me name, address, and phone number of the owner (plus the doggie’s name – Jemma). I gave them a call and left a message that I had Jemma and she was safe, and after a while the guy called me back and said he’d just gotten back from the store and found her leash broken, and then he came over and got her.
So I was thinking I did my good deed for the day, but then I thought what if she was being held prisoner and had escaped – relieved, thinking that I had brought her to freedom, only to be crushed to find out I was returning her to her captor? I could have been turning a downed Allied fighter pilot over to the Nazis!
Except I think this guy was Greek.
Well hopefully Jemma will stay put (or at least out of the road) from now on.
Time to get this week over, I guess, and next week’s gonna suck. Not only do I not have Monday off, but I also have to work late two nights to cover for a bunch of people who are in week-long training. And as if that wasn’t enough, if today’s Friday the 6th, then next week can only be one thing – Friday the 13th!
We are in the middle of a giant thunderstorm. Sat on the front porch watching it blow like the dickens. Even on the well covered porch we started to get wet from the blowing rain. Nice way to wake up and have your cup of joe.
Even though I want to give the Greek the benefit of the doubt, the dog was tied up to a leash. WTH? I can’t stand to see dogs tied up all day long. So I’m going to believe the Greek was taking her for a walk when she broke the leash. If she returns, you’ll know she’s asking for freedom.
Well, he said he went to the store, so I’ll assume he left her tied up when he went to the store and wasn’t planning on being gone log. I, however, never leave the dogs outside when I’m not home, and they have a big fenced-in area to hang out in. No way would I leave them tied up alone.
But my doggies weren’t exactly thrilled to see her in their yard, so adoption wasn’t (please excuse the rhyme) an option.
So our tea party idiots just decided Oklahoma is going to go it alone by denouncing the federal school mandates of common core. Gov Mary Fallin – who btw was an adulterer caught having sex with a OK state patrolman/body guard (who last his job) earning her the knickname, “Mattress Mary” – said she did not know how much federal money we are going to lose, no plan to make up for this unknown loss, and there is no set plan in place for devising a new plan except everyone will be involved. But hey, let’s dump all things federal because it’s crap. (Except for government handouts for snow removal, disaster relief and hand-outs to corporations)
I have reservations about common core, too. Raising standards because kids can’t meet the current ones is like saying, “You’re failing so we’ll make it harder.” In general, it is poor kids who are failing. Middle class kids are doing fine. CC says you should be able to something at a specific age. But when you talk of skills such as reading and math, they are acquired at different ages because maturation counts a whole lot in those lower grades. Affluence counts a whole lot, too. Poor kids reach kindergarten already significantly behind their more affluent peers. Telling them to learn to read at 5 makes many doubt their ability, hate and fear school. One of their biggest problem is a language deficit which affect reading.
We need to look at ways to help before those kids reach school. But it isn’t cheap and isn’t a quick fix.
CC has also been criticized for having standards that are not age appropriate, Just because someone says a kid should be able to divide fractions doesn’t mean the kid is ready to do that.
There is also money attached to this as curricula and materials are being developed and sold to that huge school market and making a good profit.
The principal on Shelter Island was a great supporter of CC until he and the teachers got a good look at it and now think it is unworkable and poorly contrived.
I have always maintained that if you want to reform education (and be taken seriously) you must never have taught and you must not have interacted with a living child for at least 20 years. That way your imagination never gets bogged down in reality.
SP, you’re being rational. The GOP believes Common Core turns kids gay, is a data collection ploy and promotes islam and that sex ed is only to turn the children into democrats. And these are the folks who are going to teach our children to be the next leaders? That is a scary thought. There are many children in this state pulled from public school to be home schooled, but the children are actually taught practically nothing. Common Core may not be the end all, but we need outside standards to raise the bar, imho.
Simple solution: call it the ‘Common Corps’ require all the kids to open carry (AKs for the high school kids, Derringers for the toddlers) and include sections on marksmanship and proficiency in firing various weapons, from hand guns to assault rifles.
Okat, you have all my sympathies living among so many Republicans as you do. I am too much of a coward. I live in places where Democrats, flawed though they may be, win almost all elections.
I have no idea how parents home school their kids. I was always much more successful teaching my students than my own kids. When my son needed some help I hired a tutor. He was willing to sit for an hour with the tutor…never with me.