Lying to the Cops

Abra, speaking to the nice policeman who visited our block party to talk to the kids about safety:

"Oh, all we do is stay inside all day and watch TV."

sigh. NOT TRUE!

Isn't lying to a police officer something like "obstruction of justice"??

Concerned Citizens, Junior Division

So a few months ago, the girls and I were driving around and Abra suddenly started asking questions about the Iraq war. "Why are we fighting a war?" "Are kids being hurt?" "Why doesn't the President stop the war?" So I suggested that she write the President and ask him to stop the war.

She did. She wrote (well, she dictated and I transcribed) and said that if he stopped the war, she would do five things that he wanted. (She never actually said what those five things were-- obviously she has caught on to the art of politics pretty well!)

Anyway, we dropped the letter in the mail and that was that. I figured we were being added to a Homeland Security list somewhere, but who isn't?

So today both girls got letters back from the President. Here's what they said (click on the image for a bigger view):



And, of course, they each got pictures! YAY!



I can't wait until their mother comes home and sees this!

(Sadly, no mention in his letter of stopping the war...)

Best. Complaint. Ever.

Abra: "Dad? Thalia's forcing me to do things!"

And she's off...

OK, so Brenna just pulled out of the driveway, on her way down to Columbus to take the bar exam. Cross your fingers, say your prayers, send your reiki, rub your rabbit's foot, whatever you can do is appreciated! Of course, most of all, she's a smart lady and has studied hard, and I'm confident that she will do what she needs to do down there...

In the meantime, it's full time Mr. Mom duty for me (and the girls), for three days. Cross your fingers, say your prayers, send your reiki, rub your rabb -- oops, I already used up all that, didn't I? Suddenly, I feel like Michael Keaton:



Anyway, here' the first Single Dad Dilemma to ponder. Tomorrow I take Abra (and, by default, Thalia) to swim lessons at the pool. To get to the pool itself, you have to go through the showers. How, pray tell, do I do this -- drag 'em through the men's locker room with their eyes closed, or shove 'em towards the women's locker room and hope they come out the other side?

egad, they didn't teach me this stuff in grad school....

Skool Daze

So the local school board, in their infinite wisdom, decided last fall to close down our neighborhood elementary school. The school right down the street from us. The school Abra would start at in a month's time, and Thalia two years from now.

When the school board started the process of deciding which school to close, they stressed community involvement in the issue. They would hold open forums, ask for community feedback, look at the financial picture, etc. And then make a reasoned decision based on all these factors.

What a crock.

The board took two schools off the board right off the bat, for reasons which still remain unclear. Then when both the financial models and the community input pointed towards other schools for closure, suddenly, magically, the school board produces a new document saying our school, Coventry, needed another two million dollars worth of repairs.

And then they voted to close it.

And a week afterwards, that repair estimate gets quietly "revised" to about a tenth that cost.

What a scam. There's more -- including the school board violating sunshine laws, lying under oath, predetermining the decision, etc -- but I'm too disgusted with the whole situation to type it all out. If you want to hear more, go to the OPEN blog. And while you're there, think about donating to the OPEN fund.

But it gets better -- now the school board is asking us to support a new levy. And therein lies the point of this post.

I have lived here for ten years, without children until the last six months. And every time a levy vote came up, I voted for it, despite the fact that I had no kids and, for a long time, believed I would never have kids. But I believe in public schools, and have supported them at every turn. They are a critically important part of a community and deserve our support. And afters years of supporting my local schools, I now find myself with children of my own to use the neighborhood elementary school --- and they close it down in the most duplicitous manner.

And now they ask me for more money.

I wish I could give it directly to the individual schools, to buy books, to renovate buildings, to transport the kids. I wish I could give it to the teachers, to get paid competitive salaries, to buy supplies for their classrooms. I wish I could give it to the students, so they could buy notebooks and pencils and play in music groups and sports teams.

But I can't. The money I give isn't ultimately managed by the schools, or the teachers, or the kids -- it's managed by the school board. And I don't trust them to make honest, ethical decisions to help the schools. Not after this. And I'm not giving them my money, or at least not my support on the levy.

So here's my promise: if this school board resigns, I will support the levy in full. Without that, you're not getting my vote. And I'm not alone in that -- I have talked to many people who say the same thing. Long-time public school supporters, levy supporters, who now are unable to trust this school board.

So, to the CH/UH school board: support the schools by resigning your position. Or go ahead and try passing the levy without Coventry. Your choice. But if you opt for the latter, good luck with that. I think you'll be in for a surprise.

Astro Updates

The Alambre wildfire, 2 miles away from the observatory, has been contained and no longer threatens the telescopes. This is good, since I am flying out there tomorrow morning.

And then there's this other piece of good astro-related news.

Healy's Waking Nightmare

Maybe Healy had a bit too much bad catnip the other night, because when he woke up he was being visited up-close by a giraffe and a purple unicorn.



That's gotta be a little disconcerting. Freaking out cats must be hard work, though, because later the giraffe fell fast asleep clutching her binky: