Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts

Monday, August 3, 2015

A Stormy 34th

Awesome swimming weather.
Hi America.

Well, ol' Ma Hough up and had herself a 34th birthday today.  Didn't really do much of anything for it, really - we're a bit too old for that nonsense.  Nay, we happened to be in Clare for the weekend visiting with our respective parents and to brush up on the girls' swimming skills while the weather still somewhat permitted.)  Marcy ended up keeping the girls for the night, after a botched attempted at swimming at Dad and Cindy's, and Kris and I enjoyed a morning 'downtown' without the nuisance of offspring.

Check it out. . .




Perhaps not the best time to go swimming. . .
We ended up dropping the girls off to Marcy's earlier than anticipated, postponing the swimming until the following day.
The next morning - Kris' birthday.  Wouldn't be a drive through Clare without seeing these weirdos about.
Tea Party with Grandma Jordan outside her place. . .
Sooo. . . is the elephant a hired musician or something?
Definitely not a smart move leaving a hot pan on a fancy tablecloth. . .
One of the more awkward, forced selfies to be found on this blog.
Shortly before Kris left her Mom's, the girls presented her with her very own birthday cake that, clearly, they decorated themselves (and hell no, we didn't eat it.)
Kris wanted to spend the morning walking around downtown (Mama gets what Mama wants on her birthday, America), and so she decided we'd start by hitting up Cops and Doughnuts downtown. . .
Long story short, the Clare Police Department stepped in and bought the old City Bakery as it prepared to go under.  Some marketing lackey put 'Cops' and 'Doughnuts' together and - voila - the local community considered it a 'genius marketing move'. . . 'cause, as we all know, cops reportedly 'like' doughnuts.  Why this bakery suddenly took off only after the bakery's image was changed to reflect the association between pastries and police officers is beyond me - I think it speaks volumes to the idiocy of the local population.  But hey - that's just me.
No, Kris didn't write what she was arrested for - her handwriting isn't that bad.
After Kris got a doughnut and coffee from the former City Bakery, we walked around the shops downtown.  As could be expected, all of the craft-ish shops were comically over-priced.
The hustle and bustle of downtown Clare.
See that old clock hanging up to the left, there?  Someone found it in storage in one of the downtown buildings somewhere, had it cleaned up, and hung it back up downtown (I guess it used to hang downtown back in the 30s or 40s, thereabouts.)
My St. Patrick's Day stomping ground. . .
You never get tired of seeing this.
The White House: an institution of fine dining.
One of Clare's more iconic building (though I forget which church this is.)  Anyway, after walking around downtown for awhile, we picked up the girls and swam for a bit before heading back to Midland.  And that's how we spent Kris' 34th birthday.

- Brian

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Skeletor Saves the Day!

Hi gang,

Now, I don't talk a lot about politics unless there's beer on hand and I'm around like-minded individuals. Nothing polarizes the masses and spurs men to anger so much as a good ol' fashioned political 'discussion,' so I try to steer clear of the subject whenever possible. Plus, I sound like an idiot whenever I've had a few beers and try to do so.


But this needs to be talked about. Even briefly.


For far too long, 'public servants' - you know, those shady ne'er-do-wells working for the state, county, what-have-you - have been living the dream in their posh mansions up and down Easy Street. You know the type. Firefighters, police officers, county clerks, you name it. Most notably among their lot, of course, are those fat cat teachers. Those lazy, fair-weather, holiday/summer-off babysitting, riff-raff. Collecting their ballooning paychecks and their hefty benefits packages from Joe and Jane Taxpayer.

I, alas, am just such a fat cat.

And, as you all know rather well by now, I make a ton of money. A shit ton of it. I'm rolling in greenbacks, my friends, and its unfair to all of you hard-working Americans out there. Why? Because I do little more than babysit nine months a year. I earned a Master's Degree (with money I didn't have!) in order to further said babysitting career, and have separated myself - by 1300 miles, mind you - from my family in order to best dupe the unsuspecting taxpayers.

Why? 'Cause that's what we teachers do. We're big league 'a-holes.' We waste tax money, we smoke cigarettes in the classroom, we teach kids evolution, and we don't do our jobs.

Fortunately, one man - nay, one patriot - called us out for our inability to service the common good. One man realized that public teachers in the state of Florida were making far more than those employed in the private sector, and were reaping unparalleled benefits and pensions at the public's expense. One man saw that, in order to cut billions and billions from the state's operating budget, he had to first cut the throat of the problem. The throat of we fat cat teachers.

That man, dear readers, is Skeletor...


A rare man, indeed. An all-American hero! Skeletor (commonly referred to as 'Rick Scott' in the political section of your local, Florida newspaper), backed by the heroic*, well-read, real American, freedom-fighters in the Tea Party, rallied the great political geniuses of the Sunshine State legislature together and introduced a bill that would put an end to teacher tenure and free-for-all pensions.


Hooray for SB-736!


His plan would hold teachers accountable for student performance. Charles 'Mega-Tan Crist didn't have the stones to see it done, but - by thunder - Rick Scott can. Yes, FINALLY those high-earning teachers will have to put their money where their mouth is!

Those teachers will have to spur those high-poverty, low-achieving, Title I, at-risk, English-as-a-Second-Language, Learning Disabled students into achieving what the general public - the taxpayers! - knows they can. I mean seriously: how hard can it be to have a 12 year old, Spanish speaking child with ADHD, a crack-smoking foster parent, and a fourth-grade reading level write an 8th grade essay on democracy?! C'mon people - it's a no-brainer!

I, for one, think this line in the sand is long overdue. It's about time someone held we lazy, overpaid, educators accountable for all that time we're wasting in the classroom. And I personally think that Skeletor is just patriotic enough to sacrifice anything and everything to see more money go into the pockets of everyday taxpayers. After all, there's NO plausible reason why lower-middle class Floridians would elect a man who was out to put his own, corrupt special interests ahead of theirs.

Why, that's tom-foolery!

Folks, Skeletor is out to serve the people, and I think he's had nothing but the public's best interest in mind since day one. THAT's why he was elected. I mean, why else would they vote for him if that weren't the case, right?

Anyway, I think it's time that we line up behind ol' Gov. Scott and tie all these teachers - myself included - out to the ol' tree out back and put us out of our misery. We had a decent run.



In other news, I'm pursuing a career at Burger King. I figured I have valuable people skills, and I enjoy wearing a visor when the occasion calls for it.

Stay tuned.


- Brian


* er, 'patriotic.'