Here we are, part way through week two of school and Ryan has brought home two fund raisers in as many days. I didn’t keep up with it too close last year but I remember the total number of fund raisers was a ridiculous number in comparison to what we did in school.
Before we continue, and before my teacher friends crucify me, let me explain my position. I understand it takes money and I understand that the teachers need more of it. The teachers I personally know, for the most part, do a wonderful job with the support they get. We have in the past personally donated to Ryan’s class in times of need. We have even bought things through the fund raising projects. We fully comprehend that teaching our youth takes money, time and good people.
However, I absolutely loathe the thought of sending my 6 year old out to raise money for a school system in which I am paying taxes for. One that I might add seems to have its priorities a little backwards. A few very large projects were just completed, addition to the Intermediate School, the building of the Redland School and many others. There is no doubt that these projects cost lots of money. They may well have been a need as well and not just part of someone’s wish list. That part doesn’t matter though because I was raised that you live within your means.
Additions and nice new schools are great, if you have the money free and clear to handle the cost, completely and fully. If we had money to put into projects, then we HAD the money to run what was already established. The Dave Ramsey line is missing so many times in Government run operations. “You live on less than you make”.
I don’t have the answer on this one. There seems to be less and less money and more and more students. If more people are moving into Elmore County, then the tax base is going up too. For me, I think the first thing that needs to be looked at is spending versus income. If you can’t cut enough to match the income, then the next place to look is internally. Is the Elmore County BOE top heavy?
After hearing about the way in which the BOE meeting was conducted at the beginning of the week, it makes it real hard for me to send my 6 year old to the neighbor’s house to beg for more money for a system that seems on the surface to be fiscally inept. If I am to pay taxes for education and many other County services, why then should I have to either pay or help raise additional money for the same thing? Nope, until BOE’s State and Country wide tighten their belts, par down the wish lists and become better stewards of the people’s money, don’t look for me to turn my 6 year old into a beggar.
Remember above all, these are elected officials too, and yes, they work for YOU. YOU are the boss, you are the ones that can make a difference in operations and hold them ACCOUNTABLE for their decisions.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
2 Hours to Buy a Battery, Priceless
I recently read a friends blog about the simpler things in life and I was reminded of that just last night. I had to have a battery in one of my trucks so I took the old battery out and headed off to Wal-Mart to buy a new one. Before I go on, let me explain for those that don’t know you have to take the old battery in. It’s called a core, and you have to turn this in so that it can be recycled. Many large parts on a vehicle are done this way and it should be no surprise when an old battery comes through the door at a place that sells batteries.
Arriving at Wal-Mart I put the battery in a buggy in the lot and pushed it into the store with the 6 year old in tow. Now if you have ever walked in the door at Wal-Mart with something in your hand you know you have to stop and talked to the Greeter at the door. This usually proves to be an exercise in futility, and sometimes quite humorous as they try and exert the little bit of power they have to figure out what is you want to do with the item in your hands.
So there I am, and I explain to the lady that I need to buy a battery and this is my old one. She asks “are you exchanging this one”. Well, no it’s not an exchange, I’m turning it in for recycling just like hundreds of people do. When I take something to the store for exchange it’s because there is a problem with it, in this case, it’s just used up and to keep from paying $12 more dollars for the new one, it has to be turned in. So again I tell her, “I am bringing my old one to turn in for recycling, and buying a new one”. She promptly gets a sticker to put on it. Keep in mind, this is my old one, there isn’t a clean spot on it. I stood there patiently though as she goofed around trying to get this sticker to adhere to dirt. Finally the last millimeter of glue found the only millimeter of clean spot and hung. She then wrote the date and her name on it.
Off to the returns counter we go when I hear “Utoh, wait a minute, I put the wrong sticker on it”. I stop, gracefully back up, and find out that the sticker is the wrong color. Now I am almost certain that this lady is someone’s MeeMaw and I am trying real hard to be patient even though I am trying to get home before dark so I can put the new battery in. Again, we go through trying to find a clean spot for the new sticker, not real sure what was wrong with the first spot at this point. Finally, I am off to the counter again.
Arrive at the counter, announce that I need to purchase a battery and that I have my old one to turn in. The lady says “I need to see your receipt”. I inform her that the battery is 3 or 4 years old and I have no idea where a receipt would be. I can’t find them from last week when needed. She tells me that I have to have it to get credit. Again, I explain that its old and I don’t have one so she calls another lady in there to talk to her about it. The second lady agrees and tells me that I have to have the receipt to get credit. I explain to that lady that I don’t have one, due to its age and as I am putting the battery in the buggy I say “Buying a battery shouldn’t be this hard, I will never buy another one here”. The second lady says “Oh, you’re buying a new one, why didn’t you say so”.
Ok, at this point, I am about to turn real ugly and let all of these semi-inept people know what I really think about them. I put the battery on the counter, and leave to go get a new battery before I go sub-atomic. I arrive in automotive, now pushing the 6 year old along so we can hurry to find that THE ONLY battery they are out of is the one I need, literally. Hats off to the guy back there though, he took the time to go to the back room and see if there was one, which my crossed fingers would soon find out was not going to happen. Before turning and walking back up to the front to retrieve my old battery, I paused, looked to the Heavens and simply asked “What did I do”? Got my old battery back after informing the lady at the returns counter that they were out and headed off to a parts store.
Arrived at O’Rileys Auto Parts, battery in hand, and told the guy at the counter “I need a new one, like this one, that works better”. He smiled, looked up the battery that I would need and left to go get it for me. This would take him 4 trips from the computer to the battery rack. It was obvious when he returned the last time with a frown on his face and no battery in his hand that I was going to be out of luck again.
Me and the old battery left, with one option left and that was Auto Zone. With daylight fast becoming a thing of the past I hurried down to their store and took my old battery inside. They guy there looked up the battery in the computer and retrieved one from the shelf. This was easy!! Things were finally turning around for me!! I was so happy that I bought the 6 year old a ring pop as a celebratory gesture to the parts house Gods!!
Life is good, new battery, headed home and just enough light to install the battery and not have to pull out cords and lights to work with. Hold on there master mechanic, you got the wrong battery and when you arrive at home you will soon realize this as you try to install it and see that the post are on the wrong side. I knew it was going too good, so with my head hung low, I load the new battery up to get back to Auto Zone before they close since it seems like the sun will be rising soon.
As I walk in the store, new battery in hand, I see a battery on the counter and the guy says “I gave you the wrong battery”. Really? No kidding Richard Petty!! He realized this after I was gone and with a fast setting down and picking up of batteries I was gone in a flash, just like a real NASCAR pit stop.
2 hours later, the new battery was installed the truck was running and I was give out. So much for the rest of the list that I had to do last night, there was no time for that. Now, I sit here at the house this morning waiting on the guys to come and put two windshields in two trucks. I have been told that they will be here sometime between 8-12, I’m sure that this will be an adventure too.
Arriving at Wal-Mart I put the battery in a buggy in the lot and pushed it into the store with the 6 year old in tow. Now if you have ever walked in the door at Wal-Mart with something in your hand you know you have to stop and talked to the Greeter at the door. This usually proves to be an exercise in futility, and sometimes quite humorous as they try and exert the little bit of power they have to figure out what is you want to do with the item in your hands.
So there I am, and I explain to the lady that I need to buy a battery and this is my old one. She asks “are you exchanging this one”. Well, no it’s not an exchange, I’m turning it in for recycling just like hundreds of people do. When I take something to the store for exchange it’s because there is a problem with it, in this case, it’s just used up and to keep from paying $12 more dollars for the new one, it has to be turned in. So again I tell her, “I am bringing my old one to turn in for recycling, and buying a new one”. She promptly gets a sticker to put on it. Keep in mind, this is my old one, there isn’t a clean spot on it. I stood there patiently though as she goofed around trying to get this sticker to adhere to dirt. Finally the last millimeter of glue found the only millimeter of clean spot and hung. She then wrote the date and her name on it.
Off to the returns counter we go when I hear “Utoh, wait a minute, I put the wrong sticker on it”. I stop, gracefully back up, and find out that the sticker is the wrong color. Now I am almost certain that this lady is someone’s MeeMaw and I am trying real hard to be patient even though I am trying to get home before dark so I can put the new battery in. Again, we go through trying to find a clean spot for the new sticker, not real sure what was wrong with the first spot at this point. Finally, I am off to the counter again.
Arrive at the counter, announce that I need to purchase a battery and that I have my old one to turn in. The lady says “I need to see your receipt”. I inform her that the battery is 3 or 4 years old and I have no idea where a receipt would be. I can’t find them from last week when needed. She tells me that I have to have it to get credit. Again, I explain that its old and I don’t have one so she calls another lady in there to talk to her about it. The second lady agrees and tells me that I have to have the receipt to get credit. I explain to that lady that I don’t have one, due to its age and as I am putting the battery in the buggy I say “Buying a battery shouldn’t be this hard, I will never buy another one here”. The second lady says “Oh, you’re buying a new one, why didn’t you say so”.
Ok, at this point, I am about to turn real ugly and let all of these semi-inept people know what I really think about them. I put the battery on the counter, and leave to go get a new battery before I go sub-atomic. I arrive in automotive, now pushing the 6 year old along so we can hurry to find that THE ONLY battery they are out of is the one I need, literally. Hats off to the guy back there though, he took the time to go to the back room and see if there was one, which my crossed fingers would soon find out was not going to happen. Before turning and walking back up to the front to retrieve my old battery, I paused, looked to the Heavens and simply asked “What did I do”? Got my old battery back after informing the lady at the returns counter that they were out and headed off to a parts store.
Arrived at O’Rileys Auto Parts, battery in hand, and told the guy at the counter “I need a new one, like this one, that works better”. He smiled, looked up the battery that I would need and left to go get it for me. This would take him 4 trips from the computer to the battery rack. It was obvious when he returned the last time with a frown on his face and no battery in his hand that I was going to be out of luck again.
Me and the old battery left, with one option left and that was Auto Zone. With daylight fast becoming a thing of the past I hurried down to their store and took my old battery inside. They guy there looked up the battery in the computer and retrieved one from the shelf. This was easy!! Things were finally turning around for me!! I was so happy that I bought the 6 year old a ring pop as a celebratory gesture to the parts house Gods!!
Life is good, new battery, headed home and just enough light to install the battery and not have to pull out cords and lights to work with. Hold on there master mechanic, you got the wrong battery and when you arrive at home you will soon realize this as you try to install it and see that the post are on the wrong side. I knew it was going too good, so with my head hung low, I load the new battery up to get back to Auto Zone before they close since it seems like the sun will be rising soon.
As I walk in the store, new battery in hand, I see a battery on the counter and the guy says “I gave you the wrong battery”. Really? No kidding Richard Petty!! He realized this after I was gone and with a fast setting down and picking up of batteries I was gone in a flash, just like a real NASCAR pit stop.
2 hours later, the new battery was installed the truck was running and I was give out. So much for the rest of the list that I had to do last night, there was no time for that. Now, I sit here at the house this morning waiting on the guys to come and put two windshields in two trucks. I have been told that they will be here sometime between 8-12, I’m sure that this will be an adventure too.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Man, Life is Grand, When Your 6!
So there we were, sitting in our easy chairs watching a little weather channel and getting ready to start the day. (Actually, Barbs day had started at 4:30 by dropping off some thigns to be sold at a community yard sale).
The night before, we had been to Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Brian Miles. (that’s Charmon and her husband). While leaving the establishment I saw that Ryan, our 6 year old had stopped and gotten one of the real estate books from the little box by the door. It was one of those that are free, you just reach in and get it. Right on the cover, it says “FREE”, meaning you don’t pay for the book obviously. Well, its not that obvious for a 6 year old.
So there we were, this morning and Barb was looking through the book when Ryan came over to sit with her. She had let me know that he was going to buy us a house because they are free, as she pointed to the word on the front of the book. Yes, he thought because the word free was on the front that everything in it was free and he wanted to buy one of those free homes for us. Isnt that a nice thought?
As they looked through the book more, Barb informed him that the houses were not in fact free and that you had to pay for them. He wanted to know if we had to pay for our house. We informed him that we send them money every month. Then he wanted to know if they send us money back.
Just when we didn’t think this could get any better, he found a house he liked. It was $174,000 and his solution, “I cant take the money out of my piggy bank”.
This made me think, how simple it is to be 6? How nice it must be to not have the concerns and worries that we have to face everyday. No worries about money, bills, food, shelter. No worries about life in general other than what cartoons come on at what time and what am I going to play on the Wii today. Innocence is great!!
Needless to say, were not moving, were not selling, and were not buying. However, I cant speak for Ryan at this point because he is still real interested in the book with all of the “FREE” houses in it.
Have a great day everyone!! Were off to get his mouthpiece for Football, yet another thing important to a 6 year old.
The night before, we had been to Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Brian Miles. (that’s Charmon and her husband). While leaving the establishment I saw that Ryan, our 6 year old had stopped and gotten one of the real estate books from the little box by the door. It was one of those that are free, you just reach in and get it. Right on the cover, it says “FREE”, meaning you don’t pay for the book obviously. Well, its not that obvious for a 6 year old.
So there we were, this morning and Barb was looking through the book when Ryan came over to sit with her. She had let me know that he was going to buy us a house because they are free, as she pointed to the word on the front of the book. Yes, he thought because the word free was on the front that everything in it was free and he wanted to buy one of those free homes for us. Isnt that a nice thought?
As they looked through the book more, Barb informed him that the houses were not in fact free and that you had to pay for them. He wanted to know if we had to pay for our house. We informed him that we send them money every month. Then he wanted to know if they send us money back.
Just when we didn’t think this could get any better, he found a house he liked. It was $174,000 and his solution, “I cant take the money out of my piggy bank”.
This made me think, how simple it is to be 6? How nice it must be to not have the concerns and worries that we have to face everyday. No worries about money, bills, food, shelter. No worries about life in general other than what cartoons come on at what time and what am I going to play on the Wii today. Innocence is great!!
Needless to say, were not moving, were not selling, and were not buying. However, I cant speak for Ryan at this point because he is still real interested in the book with all of the “FREE” houses in it.
Have a great day everyone!! Were off to get his mouthpiece for Football, yet another thing important to a 6 year old.
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