Happy New Year

We are coming up on another New Year, Two-thousand and eleven! What is in store for us this year? We always hope for peace on Earth but for the most part we pretty much continue doing what we've been doing. Yes, I know we make resolutions but the resolutions are mostly self serving and frequently are abandoned after the first week or so. Predictable things like dieting, stopping smoking, not drinking to excess,spending less on frivolous things, saving money and the list goes on.

We should be resolving to be kinder to each other, to be tolerant of the people around us that are not like us, to LISTEN to the people we come in contact with each day. We need to try to understand other people. What makes them think the way they do. We can always learn something from everyone we meet, even if it's just that we don't want to be like them.

We should make an effort to discourage this trend of "name calling" that goes on around us every day. Why does everone have to have a 'tag'? If you read the letters to the editor each day you will see that almost every letter writer engages in name calling. ie: "your Liberal, Communist, Socialist, news paper..." "the Conservative, mean spirited, party of No.." " the Liberal, anything goes party ..." Aren't they all talking about their fellow Americans? If you are a patriotic American citizen you will benefit most by trying to get things done that benefit all of us whether we are Democrat, Republican,or Independent.

Make a New Years's resolution that we will try to tone down our criticism of each other and spend more time trying to understand one another. Spend more time trying to assist the poor, the lonely, ease the pain of the suffering. See if you can spend one day without making a negative statement about someone or something. (You might want to wait till the UofL/Kentucky game is over to start your resolution.) Happy New Year!Ciao

Error

Bill and Doc came home from the war in 1945 not 1942 as I erroneously wrote.

End of an Era

My first memories are of our family home on Tibbets Ave. Mart and I shared a bedroom and across the hall Joe and Paul shared a room. Our room had a brass bed, we shared that and also shared the big oak dresser that I still have, we shared a closet, a cedar chest (that was really our mother's hope chest given to her by my dad before they were married), and we shared a dressing table that we had purchased with baby sitting money. It was unfinished and under the critical eye of our dad we finished it. He was a perfectionist and insisted that we keep sanding until it was flawless.It finally passed muster, barely, and ours to share in our room.

Mart was three and a half years older than I so she was the alpha sister! She enjoyed playing with paper dolls and since we couldn't afford store bought dolls she cut the pictures of her "people" out of Sear's and Montegomery-Ward catalogues. She named all of her "people" and placed them around the room, usually on the window sills and provided a life for them. They did things like, going to work, to school,to dances, etc. while we were occupied with our parellel lives.

I was never too big on these 'fake' families but they were my room mates and I adjusted to them. We did move to other houses but I was still Mart's room mate and never even considered any other way of life. We had our differences now and then but being the Alpha sister, she usually won out. When we had words, so to speak, I never got to use mine.

We couldn't very well share clothes because she was about seven inches taller than I and I had to wait to grow into her clothes. I never did get as tall as she so her things had to be altered to fit me. Our shoe sizes were not even close so we couldn't share shoes either.

We moved a few times but still shared our room. I am an auditory learner and Mart probably was too. She studied aloud every night in our room. I could not help but listen, I had no intention of learning all that she did but apparently I absorbed it while doing other things on my own. I would find that when it came time for me to study these same subjects I already know them or could scan the chapters and have it fixed in my brain.

When I started dating Doc, we doubled with Mart and Bill and some of their other friends. I met Doc through Mart. They went through school together.
England had already gone to war with Germany in 1939 and the United States thought it would be prudent to start encreasing the size of our Army so they had a Conscription program. Men were drafted into the Army supposedly for one year for training so that we could be ready if it came to pass that we would go to war. Bill was drafted. The pop song of the day was ,"Goodbye Dear, I'll be back in a year" Pearl Harbor happened shortly after Bill was drafted and that cancelled the 'back in a year' bit. He was stationed in Austrailia and so was immediately in the thick of the war in the Pacific. He did not get back until 1945.

I married Doc in 1942 and a year or two later he was drafted and went to fight in the European Theater of War. I lived in an appartment with my two kids and Mart moved in with me. So once again we were room mates.

Bill and Doc both came home in December of 1942. Mart and Bill started planning their wedding immediately and set the date for October 25. I was pregnant by this time and due on Oct. 1. We figured that would give me time to have the baby and be ready for the wedding festivities. Linda was delayed and did not arrive until Oct. 24 so Mart had the limo driver take her from the church to the hospital to visit me and let me see her in her bridal attire. One of the guests brought me a piece of the wedding cake.

A number of years later, in 1951, we were both pregnant and due on or around the same date.(Before the New Year). Both of our babies took their time about coming and mine arrived on Jan.13 and on Jan.17 th they wheeled Mart into my room to let her say hello to me on her way to the delivery room. I already had a room mate so we did not share a room!

Finally, in 1956 we had to move to Louisville and so ended our closeness. We still did visit once in awhile on the phone and we traveled back to Spfld to visit a few times a year.

We traveled to the beach together one summer. Her family members and some of mine. A good time to remember.We had lots of fun talking over old times,both bad and good.

Mart passed away on December 5, 2010. I spoke with her quite a few times in her waning days. I think of her often and miss her. Sisters forever. R.I.P.Mart. Ciao

Catch Up

I have had a lot going on in the last few weeks but I am not yet ready to put my thoughts on a blog. The day will come when I will be ready to write about it.
First, I want to welcome Kathy back to the blogging world. It was great reading her new entries. Maybe she can get back in the swing of it and continue to blog. Georgia's picture was cool. OK, Kathy, now we have to get Dolberry back in the loop. I know he wants to rest on his laurels, he is sure that he cannot possibly get any better than the masterpiece he ended with on May 17, 2010. He posed a question about DaVinci. Did he go on and do any thing else after his masterpiece? Well, maybe not but his neck hurt and his back ached and his landlord booted him out because he had not taken a bath until the Chapel gig was completed. We all wished that he had gone on to even greater things, but alas he deprived us of his talent. Hardly a one hit wonder! We're counting on you, Dolberry!
It looks like we are in for another ice station Zebra type winter, or maybe fall, the snow has already closed the schools down and it is only December. It is bitter cold but undaunted we stood up to the elements and had a fantastic time last Saturday night celebrating Kristin's birthday. We, the Boards, Karen & Paul, the Lally's and I, ate dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and then took a horse drawn carriage ride around downtown Louisville. It was raining slightly and cold but we were dressed for the occasion and were all comfy on the ride. The carriage has a top so we were not actually rained on. We drove all around the downtown area, saw The Yum Center, the Light Up Louisville area with the official Christmas Tree, and all of the lighted trees, wreaths, and decorations in store windows and doors. We sang Jingle Bells as a warm up tune and then went on to sing every Christmas song we could think of. All joined in. What a jolly time! We ended the evening at Tim and Kris's for cake and ice cream. (Also a bit of Bailey's, Just enough to warm our bones.)
When Linda and I were in Ireland a few years back, we took a similar ride on what they called a Jaunty Cart. It was cold and rainy that day also and it was in June! We went around the Ross Castle grounds. That was the last stronghold under Irish control to be taken by Cromwellian forces in 1653.Our Jaunty Cart driver said he'd had a 'jar' or so before he left home to "ward off the chill,don't ya know?"
We also celebrated Scott's 40th birthday which is tomorrow. Forty used to be considered 'middle age' but that concept faded away. I guess 50 must be middle age in today's world. Good Golly Miss Molly, I've gone past both milestones! I did celebrate my birthday on November 19th. Once again I was in the hospital for my big day. Other than the fact that I was in a fair amount of pain and discomfort, I had a wonderful day. Lots of visitors, flowers and cards and best of all I lived through it! If I was middle aged at 50, I should have 14 years to go! We'll see how that goes. Ciao

I guess as one grows older it is only natural that one gets'set in one's ways'. I myself have fallen victim to that. I like to get up in the morning and after my morning ablutions, retrieve the news paper from the bushes, under the porch furniture, or somewhere in the vacinity of my porch and continue with my morning ritual. I first put the kettle on for a cup of tea and then make my decision as to what I will have for breakfast.
I like to take my breakfast of choice and sit at my kitchen table and read the news paper while I enjoy my repast and watch the birds at my feeders. It is a leisurely time and a time to gear up for the day ahead. A time to ponder the imponderables. If time permits, I work the cross-word puzzle and then finally I'm ready to face the day!
I am well aware, as I've written before, that the news paper is inferior and not always accurate in some of its reporting but I still don't want to break with tradition. Could I cozy up to my computer with tea cup in hand and tolerate the birds frisking about with no audience to appreciate them and...well, you get the message.
I have my paper bill paid with a bank draft. Each month $17.75 is withdrawn from my account automatically. I can check all of the withdrawals on my on-line account. Yesterday, when I checked my account I noticed that I was charged $19.50 by the Courier.
I promptly called to question why the price had gone up. Now, it is possible that there was some kind of communication published in the paper concerning this change but I either missed it or put it out of my mind. After the usual phone game : press 1 for...,press 2 for... I finally reached a human being. When I stated my purpose for calling, he said," Well that extra charge is for the Thanksgiving day paper"
"Are you serious! I have to pay extra for that paper?"
" Well,that is our biggest paper of the year."
" Why didn't you reduce the price of the Monday paper? It is a joke. A neighborhood paper is bigger than it is and we are still paying full price for it each month." It's hardly worth going outside on a cold morning and searching for the miserable little excuse for a news paper.
I told him that the Thanksgiving edition has very little news and filled with advertizements. Having had experience with the publishing of papers and magazines, I know for a fact that they could afford to give the paper away because all of the revenue comes from the advertisements! I told him he could give me a paper without advertisements,
He said when you signed up for the paper you signed a 'disclaimer' saying you understood that the Thanksgiving edition would cost extra!
I was sorely tempted to ask his age but I restrained myself and I used my "I'm outraged" voice to say " You mean in 1958 when I agreed to take the Courier Journal, I signed a paper saying I would pay extra for the Thanksgiving edition in 2010??? "
He said," I will credit your account with the $1.85. Have a nice day!"
It's the principle of the thing! Ciao

Eat Drink and be Buried

Three D Football

     I was fortunate enough to get to see a U of L football game last Friday night, thanks to Gregg.  Our seats were in the new section of the stadium, on Flight Deck 5, row C. We were on the 40 yard line. We hung out before the game, with Andrea, Travis and the boys, until time to go to our seats.  Their seats were not on the same level as ours. It was a long trek up to the seats, by steps or ramps, you had a choice.  They went up the ramps, I went up on the elevator! The weather was perfect, it was a crisp fall evening; a slight breese coming in from the west put a bit of a chill in the air.
     I'll digress here to tell of the football games we first attended when we moved to Louisville fifty years ago.  We were used to Ohio weather which called for sweaters or jackets early on in the season and heavy coats, scarves, hats, gloves, and blankets by mid October. At the first football game I attended here, I was overwhelmed by the fact that I got mosquito bites! The first years, our football outings were mostly to see Mike play. I do recall some games that were played in heavy downpouring rain but none played in snow flurries or below zero temps.
    We did attend a few U of L games and later got season tickets to their games. We got to the games early so we could see the marching band and hear them play. The cheer leaders were there to get the crown reved up before the game started. Soon after the coin flip the game began and we were all focused on the field and the teams, yelling and cheering them on until half time. There was always lots to see at half time. The visiting team, if their band traveled with them, performed first, any tributes or introductions of VIP's were made and then the home team band performed. When the half time show, as it was called, was over the teams re-appeared on the field and the rest of the game was played, with the crowd cheering them on. If  U of L made a touch down, a cannon was fired. Very impressive!  The whole thing was over in about two and a half hours.  It was sort of like the no-frills Mass I go to, you go, you pray, you go home. You went to the football game, you watched the game, you went home!
     Oh, my gosh! It's a whole new world out there now. We got to our seats about a half hour before the game began and there was 'the greatest show on earth' right before our eyes.  The music was cranked up and playing to the rocking crowd, large screens at both ends of the fields showing the cheerleaders, the crowds, other sites of interest, the players of both teams en masse,of course, on the field warming up, hurling the football through the air, looking clean and ready to take each other on, (Astro turf has eliminated dirty uniforms, they stay clean looking). The P A system was in tip top form, directing our attention to events that were going on on the periphery.  At one time they showed pictures of former coaches at U of L. I loved the picture of Corso, and Howard was young and kinda cute, Cragthorp and Cooper were no shows. That was good! Charlie Strong appears on the large screens saying, "Stand Strong!" I loved it! The game started promptly at 8PM. The music rocked on at maximum volume until 'play' actually started. We were not too pleased with the first play of the game but we got beyond it. With the end of that series of plays, there  was a TV time out and advantage was taken of that time lapse. We were introduced to Pres. Ramsey and accolades were bestowed. The next TV 'break' we watched as a few guys tried to kick the football up the field to a certain yardline and perhaps win a prize. Kicker, not so good, missed by about ...aaaa most of the yards. Next time out, we were introduced to the women's LaCross team and their coach. Hurrah ! There were a few spectators in our section that volunteered to be water boy for that team. As breaks went on we saw large banners pulled onto the field that volunteers tried to 'pass' the ball to hit one or the other of the two large banners, one white and one yellow, with the goal of winning a large prize. Not so good again! I think the fans are short on talent! The crowd was given a choice of  a music selection that would be played. They named the performer and the song and the crowd was supposed to cheer for the one they liked best. It had to be done twice because the people that booed the choice they did not want, skewed the results. Finally they got it right and the song of the evening was TNT. 
     Half time was very good, we had intros to a few more VIP's and then the band performed, and the Lady Cardinals (I'm not sure of the groups' name) did a routine that was so good, I was dazzeled!  We were ahead of BearCats and hoping for the best in the second half.  Our team has gotten so far this season compared to the last few seasons. Bilol Powell 's 209 rushing yards was a spectacular performance and there were many others but they still have some kinks to iron out. I had the best time and am so thankful that I got to be a part of it all! I loved all of it! (Except for the fact that we lost, score: Cincinnati 35, Louisville 27. As Satchel Paige used to opine though, "We stang 'em"
     I left out some of my other favorite things, when the Star- Spangled Banner was played before the game, the lighted strip on the other side of the stadium, rolls across the stadium with the colors of the flag flashing, during the game other things roll along on that strip. The stadium is, in fact, beautiful! What a place to watch a game, it is truly an awesome scene to behold. The whole evening was memorable. It puts a whole new light on ' going to the game'.
     This is just an aside: Someone asked me today when 'tail-gating' came into being. I told them that back in the 1950's Mickey and Warner and Doc and I tail-gated at the Ohio State games. It was not participated in by as many people but quite a few of us did it. Tail-gating is an ancient custom!!! Ciao,caio

GO CARDS!













111   
    

Borders

     Our country is so beautiful and has  many spectacular areas to explore. Some are serene and peaceful, some are rough and rugged, I guess they can be peaceful even if they are rough and rugged, some have trails to follow and some are unmarked trails. There is a relative amount of risk or maybe even danger to hike on some of these sites but adventurous hikers enjoy the challenge of risk and of arduous effort to complete the journey.
       There are magazines on the market that encourage the hiker, while at the same time giving information on the equipment necessary for the safety of the hiker.  There is also special garb suggested for the hikers' comfort and important information on the proper foot wear.
     These journals also give great information about hundreds of possible hiking spots throughout the world. Many in our own country but also many in the countries that are beyond our shores. Exotic sites that are popular and some that are more remote and less traveled by others.
       In most of the articles and books that I've read that give accounts of hikers' joys and travails of hiking are consistantly urging people to heed the importance of being safe, alert, and cautious wherever you are.
       Why is it then, with all of the fabulous, adventurous, beautiful places to explore on this globe, that a few insist on traveling near the borders of hostile countries or territories?  Would you plan a back packing sojourn to the rocky, treacherous area of Afghanistan, near Iran's border? Or the border between North and South Korea,or perhaps take a jet ski ride on a lake that is on the border of Mexico where the members of the Mexican Drug Cartel hang out?
       In the first two instances the hikers were accused of spying, they were captured and imprisoned and kept under guard in cells.The 'prisoners' insisted that they were not spies and just 'happened' to wander over the borders of these countries.Why were they there in the first place? With much negotiations and diplomacy the U.S. managed to free some of the trespassers but two are still imprisoned in Iran and one dead body is still in the lake between the U.S. and the Mexican border. A lawman, determined to search for the body of the jet skier that was shot and killed by the Cartel and search for the perpetrators of this heineous crime, was abducted and his severed head was delivered to the officials in charge.  I am sickened by this! How can people be convinced that living on the edge can be exhilarating but it can also be deadly and jeopardizes the lives of others!! HIKE and SAIL in politically safe areas! Caio

Stones

          When I was about eleven years old, I got into a little dust up with my brother, Paul. We were the best of friends but there were times when we disagreed. On one of the many occasions, I was extremely outraged at something that he did and I was chasing him.  He got so far ahead that I knew  that I was not going to be able to catch him so I picked up a large stone to hurl at him. (If he was aware of my actions he would not have feared because I was a notoriously poor hurler.) I threw the rock with all my might and lo and behold, no one had ever informed me that I could throw a 'curve' stone! The stone made a right turn and went through my parents bedroom window. Paul was the definite winner of that fracas.
           That was just one of the stone throwing happenings of my youth. It was the missile of choice for most kids.  We threw stones into cisterns to hear the echo,  threw stones at any target we could find, I do believe I was even hit by a stone or two.  Who among us has not skipped rocks at any body of  water that we came to. 
       In History,s accounts of events you will find many occasions of stone throwing. In the Bible you can read about St. Stephen the first martyr of the church  who was killed by being stoned to death.  In all of the wars waged in the Mid Eastern Countries you saw films of citizens, including children ,throwing stones at the enemies. One time when I was doing one of the readings at church, the passage was about Jesus suffering buffets by his enemies.  I accidently read, "bullits" instead of buffets, I quickly corrected myself and re-read the word " buffets" and went on with the reading.  When I returned to the sacristy after Mass, Father John was laughing and quite amused by my error.  He said, "Bullits hadn't even been invented yet! You should have said stoned!" Weapon of choice!
      I've wittnessed many tiny tots pick up stones along the way and hurl them just for the fun of it. Why do we do this? I don't know! It seems to be a human trait. One of my children got into big trouble for throwing a snowball and hitting the car of the pastor of our church. No damage was reported but the pastor was quite upset by the episode and my child was required to write an apology for doing the deed. Doing what comes naturally! I was amused, not by the deed but by the letter of apology: "Please excuse me for disturbing the peace."  'nuff said.
       Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me. Old adage that is completely erroneous.
     A few nights ago a group of fifteen year boys  were celebrating the fact that they were having a sleep over at one of the boy's houses. A final instruct\ion from one of the mom's saying , 'Be good and don't get in any trouble." Her son said. "Ok, Mom. I love you." She responded, "I love you too."  Her last words to her son.
       A few hours later the boys were, for whatever reason, throwing stones at each other, laughing and having fun. One of the stones hit the car of a man who has felt harrassment by the youth in the area, he came outside with his gun and started firing. The boys were trying to flee the scene and one of the boys was hit in the back with a bullet and died! Did he deserve to be shot? Did I deserve to be shot when I fired a stone at my brother for some minor transgression? I am appalled and I grieve the death of this youth. Did he do bodily harm to anyone?  Did the car receive irreparable damage? Was the boy that was shot absolutely, without a doubt, guilty of throwing the rock that hit the car? Were the police involved? Was the elder citizen 's life in danger? Was the citizen responsible enough to own a gun?  You tell me! Ciao

More

When I signed off the other day I had every intention of continueing my thoughts on education but I went off track and am just now getting back.

Some of the polititions that are abusing us with their egregious ads on TV have jumped on the bandwagon for education, just as pols are inclined to do every election time.  If we ever do get our education on the road to improvement the pols will have to get a new dead horse to beat. Every year they come up with the same old song about how they are going to improve education and every year the education system gets worse. This year the local pols are keying in on changing the situation with busing, only because there was such a disasterous first day of school that made all of the local news venues.  Assuredly, that was a travesty but even if busing the children was abandonned entirely by Monday morning, that is still not going to improve the quality of education.

       It is not a problem that can be solved by passing laws, nor is it going to be solved by rewarding teachers if their students can pass certain tests. Some of the hardest working teachers are trying to teach a population of students that do not want to learn and many that look upon having to go to school as some sort of punishment. Children that are total strangers to discipline, to respect, to acquiring knowledge that would help them be successful in life, children that have no desire to reach goals other than to get out of school. Pity the poor teacher who struggles all day each day trying to convince a student that school is more important than playing Play Station ll or some other video game.

       A child's education should begin with the parents, they are the ultimate educators of their own children. Getting the parents involved is one part of the triangle: parents, child, teachers. The child will learn and do his best if he is supported on both sides of his endeavor.If he is supported and encouraged at home,and at school, his chances of succeeding are far greater. Parents need to set goals for their children.  Parenting is a skill so maybe we need to establish parent classes as a requirement for parents of failing schools or maybe all schools. Classes for parents of children when they first enter school and then again for middle schooler and then high schoolers. Most colleges and universitys have "parent oreintation" classes for college age students.It should be manditory.

As for teachers, we have some excellent people that have chosen teaching as their life's work, and we have some teachers that do not belong in the classroom. Teaching is a profession that should only be entered into by people who have a calling to teach. Just as we expect to have doctors that have an interest in healing people, clergy that are called to preach, nurses that have the compassity to give loving care to people that are suffering, there are many more that I could site.

There should be a grading system for teachers. School principals, parents and even students at some level should be allowed to assess the teacher's performance. They should be graded on their ability to convey the subject matter to the student, to maintain order in the classroom, to have a thorough knowledge of the subject they are teaching, on their demeanor in the classroom, on their ability to organize the students and on their empathy, on their goals for the individuals and for the class as a whole. They could be assessed by a simple grade of : Excellent, Very Good, Good. or Poor If they don't make the grade in certain subjects then they should be removed from that area, if the overall grade is' poor 'they should be advised to seek another occupation.

I know the schools have failed miserably at math and science, as I stated way back in my first blog, the Chinese have been so far ahead of us in math for years but I'm sure if the truth be known they are far beyond us in speaking our own language when they learn it in their schools. Not only the Chinese but other countries ,also.  I have a friend from India that speaks English perfectly. Correct usage of noun,verb agreement, proper use of adverbs, and gramatical syntax etc.  When I asked how he became so proficient in our language, he said the Jesuits had taught him in India and they were"the world's best teachers". We are sorely in need of some Jesuits. Talk to many graduates of our high schools and hear them say,"Me and my dad," "We come here to play," "He should have went," "I done what I could," those are just a few examples of their egregious language skills. How did they spend 12 or more years in school and still speak this way? Their teachers speak this way ,too in some cases and even if they do speak correctly they ignore the poor usage by their students! Why does this matter? I've known people that have lost the opportunity for  good jobs because their poor grammar usage tags them as "uneducated"!

Watch the news and see the subtle message when the news people want to characterize an interviewee as an uneducated person, they will choose a person that uses poor grammar. So also do job interviewers and many others. Let's teach our students to speak English!

There are different styles of teaching and certain students that adapt better to one style than another, try to group the students to 'fit' with the teacher they are assigned to. Some teachers prefer the Socratic method of teaching because it teaches the student to think, others prefer rote teaching first and then go for the in-depth analysis of the subject. Language skills are very important in teaching math concepts, ,and  math comprehension; math computing skills  can be taught by rote teaching.

There are three types of learners, visual learners, auditory learners, and tactile learners. Teach the teachers to determine which kind of learners he/she needs to teach to so that the students have a greater chance of accomplishment. Success is the greatest motivator.

We need an overhaul of education in this country so that we can compete globally! Let's get going! There are many other ideas for change but once again I'm hungry and need to move on! Ciao

Education Nation

        NBC has devoted this whole week to education in America. It was featured on the Today show, and other venues of NBC all week long.  It was very good and thought provoking.  Some of the information was shocking and some was encourageing.  I have known for quite a long time that we did not rank up very high in the world in math.  I used to tell my people about tests that were showing that we were very far behind China and other countries. At least ten years ago and maybe more than that, tests were conducted in most of the major countries around the world that showed first graders competentcies in math. We fared very poorly. We were fifth, and now how shocking it is to learn that the U.S. ranks 24th in math among the developed nations of the world today!
       Math is not the only area where we are failing. Reading, writing, language skills, science, social studies and all of the rest are falling behind. The focus is more on teaching the tests than about teaching the materials and skills necessary for success in life.
        We've listened to educators, parents, teachers, professors, legislators, successful journalists, and many others this week giving their testimony on what can be done to bring us up out of the hole.  Some of the theories are valid and some are 'more of the same' or 'who can we blame' type comments.
       There are many,many reasons why the schools are performing way below standard. and we waste time trying to come up with some simple statement that will cover it all. Statements about the inability to remove the many inadequate teachers from the class rooms, and the way to resolve that would be to reward the teachers that have students that  perform well on the tests! How absurd!
       What about the classroom that has students that are suffering from sleep-deprivation,(watching late night TV shows or playing video games well into the night) children that are not well nourished, and children that are concerned about personal problems at home. Children that are living with parents or a parent that is not focused on the child's education, but rather more concerned about getting their own lives straight or on existing until the next paycheck. Children whose parents are alcohol or drugs addicts and could care less about what their child is doing in school. A teacher should lose her job because she can't teach these children
how to do long division?
        Schools should be considered 'safe places' and most of them are, in that, they lock all of the doors, have video cameras located at the accessable entrances so as to be able to see any potential intruders,and have safety drills on a routine basis: fire drills, tornado drills and intruder drills. The students and teachers are given a code word that will be announced over the PA system in the event that an unwanted person should slip past the security measures.
         All of this is well and good, however; there is one area that is not covered and that is the protection from bullies. One of the worst deterrents for learning, for individual students, is the fear of being the target of a bully, sometimes not just one but many. Children are notoriously cruel when it comes to taunting and degrading a classmate. It only takes one bully to affect the entire population. Some children think they must join in on the bullying or become one of the bully's targets. For the most part they are terrified of becoming a target so they must avoid being a friend of the 'target' lest they become one. This has been a problem in schools for many years and so far there have been no solutions. The administrative staffs seem reluctant to take action, only under the threat of legal action on the part of the 'target''s parent, is it effectively dealt with. Most frequent tactic is to tell the target to 'just ignore it', have you tried to ignore being taunted and made fun of?  I have!  Most frequent defence is, "I was just having fun!"  If it is not fun for both the taunter and the victim, then it is definitely not fun!
        Some of the schools in New York have decided if the teachers' salaries are elevated then the level of instruction will be enhanced.  They instituted  a bonus of $30,000. for master teachers. One of the teachers that received the bonus said it surely motivated her to go above and beyond what is expected of her. Was it successful ? She said she actually saw very little improvement in her classes. Another New England state tried the bonus system for three years and did continuous testing and evaluation and there was no noticeable change after three years.
       One of the Charter schools in a large city  that has almost all African American students,(almost 40% of of whom drop out of school) hired a black male teacher that came into the school with a plan.  First of all he made parent attendance at a meeting before school even started ,mandatory. He informed the parents that if the student did not show up at school there would be a knock at their door and the student would be expected to get to school, the students were required to sign contracts as to what was acceptable and what was not acceptable. If the contract was broken, the student and parent were called in to discuss it. No exceptions, homework was given and expected to be handed in. If that rule was violated the student made up the time on Saturday morning or after school hours. The dress code was inforced. The first lesson was to learn to spell and define RESPECT. So far that teacher has met with success, videos of his classes showed a class of attentive, participating, neat, happy students. Not a single drop -out or dicipline problem  since he took control. Absences are no longer a problem. It can be done!
         Throwing money at a school is not the answer. Well trained teachers, and trust me they are plentiful, parents that are supportive and students that are motivated by success could raise the scores in all schools.
          I have much more to write about so I'm going to continue this tomorrow. (I'm hungry) Ciao

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. (This is the second amendment)

If you look up the word 'militia' in the dictionary you will see that a militia is any army composed of citizens rather than professional soldiers, called up in time of emergency.

Yesterday's paper stated that State Representative Mike Harmon, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, said that he plans to introduce legislation during next year's General Assembly session to allow Kentuckians to carry concealed weapons without a permit!!!! Phil Moffett a Louisville business man is his running mate. Moffert is running for Governor.

They want to lower the price for gaining a gun permit because some law abiding citizens find the price prohibitive. Harmon wants to find a balance to restoring Second Amendment rights while at the same time not putting people in danger! (Huh?) He said every law abiding citizen " should have the right to carry a gun if they so choose, to protect themselves". They will be required to attend a training course on gun safety and gun laws and apply to the local sheriff's office.

How about the law abiding citizen that has had alcohol or other substances before deciding to "protect" themselves? What about the law abiding citizen that chooses Not to carry a gun, because of the danger to themselves as well as others?

A twenty year old kid had a gun and alcohol and a deadly hunting knife and had the charges dismissed. He had a few other unsavory incidents before he became a 24 year old but was given his freedom to carry a gun

Over the weekend we had a very sad happening here in Louisville. A young man that had a reputation of being a good citizen, helping the young, attending church, having a clean record, no signs of criminal activity in the past, a team player and a young man that was in line for a long productive life, was shot dead on a downtown street.

His funeral was attended by people from near and far, hundreds of people, business men, leaders of communities, past school mates, past team mates, past coaches, all along with his family and friends from surrounding communities, attesting to his good character and to his potential for good in his life. He had a bachelor's degree in justice administration in 2009. He was shot dead on a down town street.

One of the eulogists at or outside his funeral said,"It used to be that someone got in an altercation, someone got a bloody lip," he said. " Now people carry guns,and Smith & Wesson is undefeated."

He was shot dead on a downtown street.

The authorities have been reluctant to name the man who did the shooting. The information is that the authorities have already said, the man will not be charged because it was self defence! As the situation is described both men with friends had visited a downtown bar separately. They had passed each other during the evening but did not interact with each other. The dead man is a former U of L football player and the shooter is a former U of L baseball player. After leaving the bar the men, each with one friend in his car, were supposedly driving home. They happened to stop at the same traffic light and one of the men in one of the cars shouted a remark to the other car. It is alleged that it was a racial epithet that was shouted. The light changed and one car followed the other. Once again they were stopped at a light and one of them jumped out of their car and accosted the men in the car that did the shouting. These men were in a closed, locked car with a lowered window. The accoster reached in through the window and battered the two men aboard. Where upon the driver pulled out a gun and shot, not only the attacker but shot his car mate in the hand. The man that had been shot, died about a half hour later. Self defence??

He was shot on a downtown street.

The Kentucky Legislator passed a law saying that the same rules that apply to a person's home apply to his car. The Castle Law. Your car can now be considered your castle and you have the right to protect it!

The information gathered on the 'shooter' thus far is that when he was 20 he was charged with carrying a concealed deadly weapon and possession of alcohol by a minor after he was stopped for driving on an expired plate and police found a hunting knife under his seat and a bottle of gin. The charges were dismissed. That was in 2004. Last year he was charged with alcohol intoxication after he was found walking away from a car that had run into a tree. The citation said he was "manifestly under the influence of alcohol and a danger to self." He was assigned to 10 hours of volunteer work, and the charge was dismissed.

In January, he was charged with disorderly conduct and alcohol intoxication after police stopped a car driven by a friend of his who was charged with DUI.The police heard that there was a gun in the car and they asked the two men to step out of the car. The alleged shooter of the football player became "verbally abusive and belligerent." He reportedly told the officers they "couldn't do anything to him because his father is an attorney," This information is in the police report. :His friend that was driving paid a $709 fine and court costs. Obviously, his dad is not an attorney.

If licences to carry are going to be granted to anyone that can scrape up the fee and take lessons then we must all be advised to drive around in our Castle" on wheels with our windows closed and our doors locked and the ability to quickly "duck"

I do wonder when sanity will be restored to this country.
When are we going to learn the lessons of the past. I listened to a Chicago Policeman state one day that he had taken more guns out of the hands of dead people, that were trying to protect themselves, than out of the hands of criminals. Caio!

Peggy and I

Have any of you seen the commercial that has a caller trying to access a service representative and he reaches a very disheveled man in a totally trashed looking office who claims to be, "Peggy". He is a little thrown off when the obviously male voice identifies himself as ,"Peggy" "Peggy"?he responds and the voice says "Yes". He says he would like to talk about his account, Peggy says, "Yes?" He asks one question and Peggy says, "Yes" When he asks if this means she/he knows about his account, Peggy says, "Yes." He tries to continue on but Peggy chooses to just hang up. He did not ask if Peggy was in India, but I'm sure she/he was!

Well, in the last two days I have encountered a Peggy or two and have become so frustrated, stressed out , angry,and defeated that I am exhausted.

I am having some problems with my e-mail. I changed companies so my address changed. Seems like a simple thing to me to make this change. I e-mailed all of the friends on my list and they handled it perfectly. They continued e-mailing me but used my new address. It's not like I changed the whole address I just changed the supplier. However, the companies that I depend on for services of one kind or another can't seem to adjust to the change.

I thought it would be a simple thing to call and bring them up to speed on my change. I failed to take into account that human beings are no longer in vogue. We are in the automated era. I was given choices of numbers to press to get the help I was seeking. None of the choices were even slightly related to the information that I wished to impart to them. I've been advised to sit quietly and wait and eventually someone will answer. Not so! A recording answers and tells me that I have not responded in the amount of time given and I will have to hang up and try again or press some number to return to the main menu.

This is when my invective language begins. I do try again but the outcome is the same. I dial the phone number that they suggest that you call and guess what? Automation rears its ugly head again. WELCOME! (We are so glad that you are stupid enough to call us again)Please press...
My head is beginning to hurt at this point but never say never, Right? I persist and try every trick in the books and try to reach someone . I would even settle for Peggy!

The 'machine' no longer asks me to press numbers they pull out the big guns now and say,"Are you calling from your home phone?" "Say ,"Yes" if you are and "No" if you are not. (Me) "Yes", She ,"I'm sorry, it sounded like you said, "Lass." I will try again, "Are you calling from your home phone?" I shout, "YES!" "Is this a private home or a business? Answer, Private if it is private and business if it is business." Is this a private home or is this a business?" " I say, Private!" " I'm sorry,.. I don't wait this time, I don't shout, I scream, "PRIVATE! PRIVATE ! P-R-I-V-A-T-E" Now not only my head hurts but my throat ,too. I hang up, take an Advil and go lie down.

Today, I have another go at it. I have two companies that I have issues with. We again start off on the same foot as I started on yesterday. Please key in your identification number. Where will I find it? Let's see is it my social, my birthday and date, my customer #, or my ten digit phone number, or some obscure number that is filled with zero's? I struggle through and for a change I encounter a human. I knew he was human because, I'm taking no chances, I asked, "Are you a human being?" He admitted to being one so we went on from there. When he asked for my current e-mail address I proceeded to give it to him. I kid you not he said I didn't get that last part could you repeat it, please? I said, It is; a-t-t-dot n-e-t- He was very polite, but again said, "I'm sorry, but I still can't get it." I was also very polite, no shouting or screaming today, I said, "You know, BIG company ATT.net" He laughed aloud, and said, "Duh!" I laughed also and said, "Now, do you get it?" He said, "Yeah, I have it now!" We ironed out our difficulties and all was well. What a difference a human makes!

I still had one more to go. It was pretty hairy but I had no need to shout, I just needed all the patience I could muster up. I was finished for the day finally and decided to take my wounded spirit outside with my book and a glass of wine and sit on the deck and becalm myself. The weather is perfect, sunny, cool a slight breeze, and the birds were enjoying the feeder food and swooping around over head. I pulled a chair up close to the one I was sitting in so I could prop my feet up. (that's always therapeutic) and I sat back and started reading my book. Ah, peace at last. I looked up just in time to see a kamikaze fly swoop down into my glass of wine!!!

Is there no rest for the for the ...Ciao

David and Golieth? Which one is David?

During the Civil War there was major consternation in our country about which side to be on. Some were clearly for the North and some were just as passionate about the cause of the South. There is not anything unusual about that, but it did cause great rifts in families that were divided. Brother against brother.

We have a modern day situation like that each September and December in Kentucky. History does repeat itself except this time it is not played out on the battlefield (thank, God) but it is played out on the football field!

The members of the family are very firm about their allegiance to one team or another. Their support is a steadfast devotion of an unquestioning kind of loyalty. Even though in recent years it has taken great fortitude to support the miserable showing of their beloved teams at one time or another.

One of the teams, on the football field , for a number of years had a very difficult time winning games, however: they found new ways each week to lose games but, not to worry, their stadiums were still filled with loyal fans each week. A phenomenal statement of loyalty. Win or lose, the fans are with you. The team climbed up out of the hole and began to win games for their fans to show them that all was not lost. They are up and running again with a joker in the pack.

The other team had the blush of success and awards for their efforts and basked in their glory when alas, it all came tumbling down. What a difference a coach makes! The dedicated, adoring fans went to games still, but the gnashing of teeth and tears of frustration were evident each and every game. Out of the South came a' strong 'contender with the offer of hope to the fans. Could it be?

Tomorrow the die is cast and we shall see who survives. Will it be University of Kentucky who half of my family are awaiting the chance to gloat over, or will it be the University of Louisville which the other half of my family are hoping for a new beginning. Stay tuned!Caio.

I am cheering for my family!

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round...

If you keep up with current events, you have no doubt read or heard about the fiasco of Louisville's first day of school for the JCPS. I really don't have a dog in this fight but as a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, citizen of Louisville, former teacher in private schools, a lover of children and a person with common sense and wisdom, I have much to say about what transpired on opening day.

There has never been a reasonable explanation for the current superintendent's desire to deviate from the rest of the country's decision to recognize the fact that 'busing' as we know it is no longer needed in this city or for most other cities in the U.S. I'm sure that when the results of the census are finally tabulated it will show that cities the size of Louisville are gradually becoming more and more diverse.

If you were to visit each home on my street you would meet, a Japanese/American couple, a Caucasian/African American couple, with three African American children, an Hispanic couple, three or four Jewish couples, three or four Catholic couples, a Baptist/Catholic couple, a number of Protestant couples a Mid-Eastern couple, and an African American. That is just one street. Diversity is evident if you shop at the small group of stores at one of the intersections. We have a Mediterranean restaurant, a great Mexican restaurant, a Chinese Restaurant and a Mexican grocery store, a Greek Church, Catholic Church, Methodist Church a Baptist Church. Do you think we need to put our five year old children on a bus and drive them for one or more hours so that they can see people that are not just like them?

There are so many things wrong with the plan that was foisted upon the Louisville people that I have a hard time knowing just where to begin to list them. Under the guise of keeping 'what is best for the children' in mind it was decided that if the youngest among them were to be exposed to other cultures and children with different skin color they would grow to be more accepting of those "people" as they grew older. What hog wash! The method by which they are going to accomplish this fete is to put the kindergarten children on buses and drive them through morning rush hour traffic across town or down town at 7:30 in the morning so that they can mingle with children that do not live in their neighborhoods.

School begins at 9:00 A M and the children have to get an early start because it sometimes takes one or one and a half hours to get to their destination. Remember these are five year old children! ( Are we there yet?) They have their lunch at 11:00 or 11;30 and then at 3:45 they are back on the buses and headed for home. Even under the best conditions they will not reach home until 5:30 or there-about. There is a great effort being made to get them all home by 6:30PM. They boarded the bus at 7:30 and arrive back home TEN hours later. Mom and Dad were probably gone from their home about eight or nine hours max to complete their day's work. The children have six hours of instruction, one half hour for lunch and three hours, (if all goes well) of bus riding. Tell me how this can possibly be a good thing.

Last year there were so many complaints because the children that averaged so much more than three hours on the buses that the decision makers though it would be solved if they bought more buses, so they spent SIX MILLION dollars buying more buses so that they could have more buses on the road to expedite the riders thereby getting them home quicker.

The first day of school they aimed to get all the children home by six o'clock, (remember they got on the buses at 7:30 AM) but the gods were not kind to them. Some of the kids did not get home until 7 or 7;30. Some of them did not get home until 9 PM!!! The HIIC *said they did pretty well because ONLY 200 children got home after 6:30. (There seems to be a slight controversy about whether it was 200 or 400.) One little girl was still on the bus at 9:00 and they had no idea who she was! Her parents were frantic and had other relatives stationed at various bus stops trying to find her. One parent became so frantic that she called the police!

Five year old kindergartners!! Imagine the trauma they will probably be dealing with for years! Why is it allowed to continue? I enquired as to whether there were monitors on the buses. No! How is the bus driver supposed to deal with a bus load of 5 year old children and drive in morning and late afternoon traffic? What if one of them throw up, fall off the seat, get a scratch,a bumped head or get in a fracas with another child? Have you heard about bullying? A great percentage of it happens on the school bus. It is so appalling and so senseless, how can it be stopped?

Why doesn't each bus have at least one monitor with a clip board listing the name, address and phone number of each and every child. A child of that age should not be expected to have all of that information readily handy. This may surprise some of you but children have been known to lose their name-tags, lanyards, and many other possessions.

The HIIC* has answered all complaints by saying how much the schools have improved and boasts of the new programs and so on. Never mind that we spent an added six million dollars to support a failed venture. Law suits have been filed and lost, there's been an exodus of students that are being enrolled in private schools but still the pleas fall on deaf ears. Some one, please explain this to me! I'm baffled! Caio

*Head Idiot In Charge

Historical Day

This is truly a long awaited day in our country. The opening news pictures on the 6:30 P.M. news were of The Last Patrol convoy loaded up with the fighting men that have been in Irak. Richard Engle was the reporter on duty, riding on the back of one of the troop filled truck telling us that ,indeed this was the end of American combat troops in Irak. They were driving along a two lane paved road about 30 miles from the Kuwait border. they had been traveling since about 2:00 A.M. They reviewed back and showed some of the scenes that we have been shown on the six o'clock news since the war started in the year 2001. We saw the troops being driven into the war zone and now see them finally being driven out. I must admit when a picture of David Bloome suddenly appeared riding along on the back of a vihicle reporting on the battles of the soldiers, one of the first news people to be allowed to ride with them, I cried all over again for his family. A three year old daughter and two year old twins and their mother left behind by the evils of war. During these war years we lost over 4000 soldiers, men and women, and had 32,000 wounded. Think of the thousands and thousands of children left with out their mothers and fathers, the mothers and dads whose sons or daughters were killed or wounded, the living 'survivors' of the war that will forever be haunted by their experiences, and will be forced to live their lives out in their traumatized state, some of them in mental hospitals, some homeless and living on the streets because they no longer 'fit' into society or function as they did before going to war. Throughout the whole time G.W.Bush told us 'We shall prevail!" At one point in a staged tableau from a USN ship, we were told."Mission Accomplished".

Now, years later, we are withdrawing combat units but leaving 50,000 men and women behind to help the Irak government. How long will they be there? Do we really believe that the danger the combat troops faced has come to an end? Are the 50,000 men and women left behind out of danger? I'm just saying.. Ciao

Andthe Beat Goes On

I thought I would open the paper today and not be met with Karen S.'s picture or name but alas, she is due in court again today to try to settle a custody issue with her former husband Tim. It seems to me that would be a slam dunk! I guess I'll have to listen to the news tonight to see just how that all worked out. I have nothing but abject pity for her five year old daughter. How sad to have to grow up being singled out as being the child of that woman. I know the four boys must have their share of embarrassment and have memories of turmoil and trouble in their home but they are at least old enough to make decisions and have opinions of the mess she created. I pity all of the children involved in this case. Enough, already!

I am going to switch to another subject. Since I have a lot of free time on my hands I am free to watch day time television. I never had the opportunity before because I worked. I have certainly found out that I didn't miss much.

I do like to turn on the TV as soon as I awaken because I am a news junkie. I want to know what is going on in the world at all times. I don't particularly enjoy the local news because it is mostly murders, swindlers and car wreck stories. Local news is a waste of time, so why do I watch it? As Rowan would say, "I don know either"

I watch the Today show, not because I think they are more accurate , (none of them are totally accurate) but from force of habit. I've become attached to Matt L. Anne C. Al Roker. I personally can barely tolerate Meridith V. I think she could easily be replaced by someone with more intelligence and more pizazz. Any way, after I am fully awake and have a bit of knowledge about what is going on in the world, and a few recipes I'd like to try, I get up.

I do my morning matins and ablutions and then start my day. I read the morning paper from front to back,( a task that is becoming easier and easier since the CJ is so pitifully inept,) while I eat breakfast. I try to do the chores that I have lined up for the day and then check my e-mails, face book, Internet news and tune back in to the last segment of the Today Show, Kathy Lee G.and Hoda K. They are frequently very funny. They have one feature on the show whereby they choose people from the Today Show viewers that stand on the street and scream during the show. They bring them inside for a make over! I think they extend their stay in N.Y.
for the next day so they can appear on the show in their new persona. It is remarkable how they can make these drab, dowdy people into classy, sexy looking beautiful people. There are always members of the family or best friends waiting to see how fabulous they look. A 'mercle' right in front of our eyes. The people are blind folded and stand and wait for the signal,"OK you can look now! The blind folds are snatched off and their awe begins.
They shout "Oh, my God, Oh, my God Oh, my God' The the make-over-ee, is directed to turn and see herself in the long mirror and she shouts ,"Oh, my God, Oh, my God." The on lookers rush to join the make-over-ee and they all shout, in unison, "Oh, my God, Oh my God". I wonder who scripts this part of the show. I wonder if back stage it is dubbed the "Oh, my God" segment of the show.

They are not the only Oh,my Godders on TV. "A mother who lost her children back in 1989 is reconnected to then and they all cry and shout "Oh, my God" for five minutes. Sometimes the show host puts the mics in their faces and asked dumb questions like, "Are you surprised?" "Oh, my God!" A little dog is rescued out of the raging flood waters and the dog owner grabs the half drowned put into his arms and the reporters rush to him and asks, "Did you think he would ever be rescued?" "Oh, my God."

I am certainly not one to rebuke people for mentioning God, but is that praising? I don't hear a Thank God in any of these events. I've seen the acronym OMG on signs, bracelets, charms, tee-shirts etc. It almost seems like blasphemy to me. It is irreverant, or contemptuous. Is it taking the name of the lord thy God in vain? Ciao.

The Blame Game

I really can't remember the TV show or the comedian from years past that made the statement,"the devil made me do it" but I do remember that it became very popular and always made people laugh when it was used. We have progressed from that point since then. No longer are things blamed on the devil but things are blamed on a multidude of other things, real people, society, the Republicans, the Democrats, your wife/husband, teacher, best friend, mother, father, alchohol, whoever or whatever is handy or thought to be feasible at the time. or capable of being used. So the sordid, x-rated trial came to a close, guess what? It was all Tim Sypher's fault!

Despite the fact that Karen Sypher went into Porcino's restrarant dressed in a provocative outfit and made herself available to Patino, who had two things against him one, he was in his cups and two he is male. She clearly set out to seduce him. She's had a lot of practice so it was a sure shot. She then drove him to his home because he does not drive when under the influence, as do many of his fellow coaches. The date was July 31, 2003. She claimed she did it because of the snow!

K.S. had made the statement many times that she could hardly wait to tell her side of the story, but when her lawyer took over he chose not to let her or any one else testify. Hfe simply made his closing argument and the trial went to the jury. In the closing argument her lawyer claimed that there was enough evidence to say that the whole smutty affair was all Tim Sypher's fault.

Nevertheless, saner heads prevailed and the jury, six men and six women, convicted her of attempting to extort Patino and of lying to the FBI and four other charges. Guilty on all six charges. Some are Federal offences which allows no probation. The sentencing is scheduled for Oct. Her lawyer is not allowed to appeal until after the sentencing because of Federal law.

She was released from the court and walked out onto the street smiling all the way. She will be on the loose until October. Gentlemen, zip your bloomers. Caio

Dirty Laundry

Just when you think you have heard it all... The first half of the trial is over and tomorrow starts the defense. Sypher says she can hardly wait to tell her side of the story.

Each and every male that has appeared on the witness stand has admitted to having had sex with K. Sypher. No one has come forward to make claims of what happened before her first marriage but from her first husband, her lawyer, her boy friend, her second husband, Patino and her third husband have all been members of the K.S. club. So far her present lawyer has not testified so we will be left in the dark as to whether he joined the club or not.

One of the witnesses was a reporter that said she got a call from Karen one day to let her know she was volunteering to go to police headquarters to file a charge and she wanted a camera crew and a reporter to meet her there. They did. She spent most of her session that day disputing the things she had said in her other encounters with the police.

When she was asked the question: "If he raped you why did you drive him home? She replied," it was snowy and his designated driver had left the restaurant." (The driver had not left) and it was July 31st. Her credibility is a little questionable.

She claimed to be pregnant and did in fact have an abortion in August. She and Patino did the nasty on July 31 and the abortionist verified the fact that she was indeed FIVE weeks pregnant.
We are all smart enough to figure out that if she thought she was pregnant with Patino's child she would not have been eager to have it aborted. Life time meal ticket there.

Her first husband and her last husband (Sypher ) have used words to explain her actions and words by saying, "She is nuts" "She is crazy," etc.

It will be interesting to see what the other side will say. I'll keep you up to date. Caio.

Trial and Error

The Sypher vs. Pitino trial is taking place in Louisville at the present time.. The two major participants in this real life drama are both flawed people. I would think that if a novelist sat down to write a fictional account of the story that is playing out here, he would very likely choose people with the same traits and personalities as these two.

Rick Pitino's public persona is that of one who is self assured, talented, aggressive, inspirational, and attractive. He is handsome and out going. As far as his private life is concerned, we know very little but he has shown himself to be compassionate and loving and emotional about the woes of his friends and family. He has suffered great sorrows in his life, he lost a young son and a brother-in-law that he was very close to that was killed in the 911 attack.

Karen Sypher grew up here in Louisville and attended school with neighborhood kids, rode in car pools, packed her lunch, wore uniforms, grew up and married. She did not distinguish herself in any way as far as we know. Obviously she did want to have life a little easier than she had it. She wanted to be somebody and she chose her femininity as her weapon of choice. She married and had a child or two and went to work in an office doing menial tasks. She early on claimed that she was being sexually harassed by her boss and took the matter to court. She was not too successful in gaining much money from that encounter but undaunted she decided to expand her search. Fate, I guess, had her be at Porcino's on the same night that Pitino came there with friends.

His major flaw came to the forefront. He has no resistance, apparently to the charms of a well endowed, floozy. She displayed her charms and he fell victim to them. Obviously fouled by alcohol. How could he be so stupid? That is the age old question. Men have been trapped in the webs of evil since Adam fell victim to Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Karen Sypher was sure that she had trapped the "cash cow" but things did
not work as she had planned. He "kissed and told" when he sobered up and realized he had jeopardized his life as he knew it. He was a victim of extortion he claimed.

Nobody said she was the sharpest knife in the drawer but she continues to display her poor taste and make a fool of herself. It is probably a given that her lawyers told her to lose the low cut tops and short tight skirts and stilettos so she put on a turtle neck shirt sans under garments and stuck with the stilettos. Yesterday she went back to a lower neck shirt but filled in the "vee" with a large cross on a chain. The cross looked to be about three or four inches tall. In the parking lot, as she approached the court house, she stopped and held up the cross and kissed it! I kid you not, this actually happened.

If you are keeping score I think the flaws of one are out numbering the flaws of the other. We are all flawed in some way or another but we have to learn sooner or later to overcome some of the more egregious ones. I will be glued to the news to see how this all plays out. I've just given the bare bones of the situation but will be anxious to see how it comes to a conclusion. Ciao

Open Seseme

Life before the Tylenol incident,back about twenty or thirty years ago, was much simpler. At that point in history a deranged man(?) decided to bring down the pharmaceutical company that manufactured Tylenol. He somehow arranged to remove a bottle of Tylenol from a drug store shelf and replace the capsules with a deadly foreign substance and place the bottle back on the shelf for some unsuspecting shopper to buy. As you may well imagine this single act had a cataclysmic effect on the packaging and labeling habits of companies across the entire spectrum of merchandise.

You could no longer simply open containers and go on about your business. In some instances you needed a tool of some sort to do the task. Despite the fact that there were some containers labeled 'child proof' (that only children could open) there were many items that could not be opened even by children! I did lunchroom monitoring for many years and was called upon to open juice boxes, Twinkies packages, Lunchables, and other boxed items. (I found that a push pin was an invaluable tool to carry with me to assist me in opening cheese sticks, yogurt containers and other edibles.) Shrink wrapped foods were, and still are, extremely challenging!

In every day life from that time on packaging became more and more complex. Creative packaging was no longer limited to food and drug items. Things like batteries, toiletries, cleaning supplies, and the list goes on, are all encased in plastic. Some things are so tightly packaged that one would think that the fear of the item getting away drives the packager to greater lengths.

As the packaging rage flourished my ability to open things diminished. Gradually my hands lost their strength. I had to have Doc open more and more jars,and when he was not available I perfected the art of opening most small jars with the nut cracker. If the lid was larger than the scope of the nut cracker I had to get help. I have been known to use the pliers to open some of the "squeeze here and turn" bottles like Clorox, Listerine and others. I've been considering asking the bag boy to loosen the lid on the Tide bottle at the grocery. I've had to postpone my laundry duty on days when my efforts to open the Tide bottle have not met with success and my hands hurt from trying. I can come back the next day and give it more tries and finally get it open. The nut cracker can assist me with the milk bottle lids, and condiment lids. The "push down and turn" containers can be very intimidating!

Remember when you could open the cereal box and then pull apart the lightly sealed inner bag that contains the cereal and pour the cereal in the bowl and then roll the bag down to insure the freshness of the rest of the box? Now, I have to resort to the scissors, which I keep handy at all times, to cut open the bag and still try to leave enough that it can be rolled down. Alas, poor me!


It has come to the point that all I can easily open is a book and a bottle of wine. The wine, I have Stephanie to thank for because she gave me an electric wine opener! When frustration and discouragement reach the lowest point it can be very relaxing to open my book and pour a glass of wine and bask in the comfort of my Bogart blue lounge chair and read! Ciao.

Note: if you buy pasta that was packaged in Italy you can easily open it, put it in boiling water and be ready to eat it in record time holding a fork with pain free hands.!Ciao,Ciao

Rock On!

Finally, I think the saga of the Indian Head Rock has come to an end! The dispute has raged on for the last three years. The fate of the eight ton boulder that was the cause of much angst in these three years has finally been resolved. The antiquity is being returned to its rightful owner, Kentucky, in the near future. Thankfully this prevents litigation. Portsmouth, Ohio will relinquish the control of the rock with no further need for the resolution settlement in Federal Court. Portsmouth has agreed to return the rock to Kentucky.

Just to refresh your memory I will review the facts. The rock was on the bottom of the Ohio River when historian Steven Shaffer led an expedition of divers to remove the rock from the Ohio River in September, 2007. Shaffer and one of his cronies was facing criminal charges at one time because they violated Kentucky's antiquities law. Said rock was on the Kentucky side of the river and therefore was owned by Kentucky..

The rock is believed to be a relic of prehistoric Indians. It has a crude carving of a face, possibly done by the Indians but it also has the names of some Portsmouth families from the early 1900's carved into it. (They were probably in an under water carving class.)

I am missing something here because I can't really see it becoming a tourist attraction if it remained on the bottom of the river. Seems to me that Shaffer and his cohorts did Kentucky a favor by dredging this gigantic, eight ton rock up to the surface. Rather than dropping the thing back into the river they(Ohio) are going to remove the rock from their storage place, (some warehouse somewhere) and move it to Kentucky, the rightful owner.

It seems the integrity of the archaeological site has been compromised so the rock will be stored by Greenup County officials until a permanent home can be found for it and then it will be on display for the public to see. Do you see a special trip in your future to travel to Northern Kentucky to view this phenominal chunk? The Heritage Council is gearing up for the anticipated crowds. Kentucky Rocks. Ciao.

Organization

When I was still working at school I taught a class called SOS. It was an acronym for 'Self Advocacy, Organization, & Social Skills' These three qualities are sorely needed by all students but for the most part are not taught in the classroom. Rather , they are not taught as part of the curriculum. Most teachers do try to instill organization skills, and are constantly reiterating the acceptable social behavior of society. In our school the students are graded for their internalization of these skills.

Organization was a challenge for some more than others. I spent many hours of my life helping my students organize. We worked on orgaanizing note books, desks, lockers, back packs, math problems, all written work, homework, you name it ,we organized it! We would even assign them to organize their bedroom at home and have an organized place to study, have supplies at hand, and plenty of time to complete homework.

There was one person in the whole scheme of things that definitely did not internalize the concept of life being easier when you are organized. That person would be me! I spend so much of my life trying to find things. I am always searching for some item that I've lost. Doc used to 'preach' to me that old saw, " A place for everything and everything in its place." Ha! Part of the time I was searching for things, the things being sought were his. He was fond of saying that I didn't have to worry about my purse being stolen because even I could not find it, so the thief would not be up to the chalenge either.

I gave up sewing because I could sit at the sewing machine for hours and never leave the chair but I would lose my scissors, thread, a piece of the pattern, etc. etc. One time though, a few years ago I had the sewing machine set up down in the downstairs bedroom and also had the ironing board set up too. We were working on a quilt for Kathy, I had a stitch remover on the table among the items that I needed, I finally had a need for the stitch remover and I searched
all over the table, on the floor, under the bed, on the dresser top, I exhaused every flat surface and area that I was near, but no stitch remover. I spent a good portion of an hour looking before I gave up and decided that a being from some other realm had spirited it away. The next day I did find it fused to the iron. How did it get there? One of life's little mysteries.

I have lost or misplaced every possession that I own and some that I do not own. All searches are time consumming. Think of what I could do if I did not have to spend hours of my life looking for things. I could probably have had time to learn to play the violin, use a hoola-hoop, designed floral gardens in my back yard, learned to speak French, or Spanish, taken Karate lessons, learned to swim, learned to cut and paste, and the list goes on! A vast amount of time that could have been used for furthering my knowledge went to waste.

Just the week before last I lost my car keys. I drove the car to church and home again and when I went to use the car again, I had no keys. Fortunately, I have an extra set so I used those but continued to search and to engage St. Anthony in the quest. He has been my constant source of ideas for where to look and always seems to find things in the absolute last place that I look! I looked in places that didn't even make sense...closet shelf, under the beds, beside the dryer, in all of the dresser drawers, clothes hamper, all pants pockets, I even looked in my jean's jacket pocket , despite the fact that it has been 90 degrees plus for the past 11 days. On Wednesday Andrea and Kadon came and I offered a reward to Kadon if he could find the keys. He looked under the seats of the car, slid his hand down behind the back seat and covered as much territory as he could looking for them, to no avail. Three days! I was ready to give up and call off the search.

Kadon got in the car when it was time for them to go and Andrea came around to get in her side of the car and suddenly I saw her jumping up and down and cheering! She dangled the keys from her hands and shouted, I found them, I found them! What a relief. They were all wet with dew and if they had been there much longer the Dixie Clipper would have whomped them. My car was in the carport and I had never even walked in the grass by the driveway so how did they get there? Doc used to chide me when I was looking for my keys(it happened often) by saying, " You might as well throw the keys out in the back yard when you get out of the car! Your chances of finding them would be just as good as they are when you put them in your purse or where ever!"

I think we all know how my keys got there!!! Nooo-neee-noo-noo. Ciao.

Reading Maketh the Man

I have shared with you before my experience with learning to read. My Uncle John and his wife Mayme were living with us temporarily during the early days of the Great Depression. We lived in Cincinnati, O. They had no children and Uncle John was very fond of my brothers, sister and me. He introduced me to reading. I intuitively learned to read so his task was to supply materials that would increase my skills. So basically I had learned to read before going to school at the age of five. As I mentioned before I was quite small, so small that I had to have a cigar box under my desk because my feet would not reach the floor so I had my own little foot rest. The nun was pretty sure that someone as small as I, could not possibly have any skills. I was placed in the 2nd reading group.

We had a large sand box in the back of the room that had legs on it so that we could stand by it and do multi-sensory tasks to reinforce our letter-sound connection. Muscle memory, we traced the letter in the sand and said the sound the letter made as we traced. This was a practice that was first used by the ancient Greeks. While the first reading group sat on small chairs and read from the primer, I and the others in my group did our vowels and consonant sounds in the sand.

Every day when I arrived home, my dad would ask if I was still in the 'slow ' group and every day I would have to admit that I was still there. Christmas was coming and he said if I didn't get into the fast group Santa might not visit me. My Uncle John was doubly concerned because he knew that I was progressing at a rapid rate! OK, the chips were down! After hearing this threat a few more times and Christmas was drawing near, I took matters into my own hands!

One day when Sister Mary Albert called the first group up to the chairs to read, I casually joined them. She said, "Elizabeth, you do not belong in this group." I said,,,,,,,,"Yes, I do." The die was cast! She relented and said, "We'll try you out and see if you do." I read perfectly!!

When I got home that day and Dad came forth with his question, I could say, yes! He insisted on the details and when I gave them to him, he, Uncle John, Aunt Mayme and my mother got quite a laugh out of it. You gotta' do what you gotta do!

I have been a reader ever since. When you read, you can be anything you want to be, and go any place you want to go. You can store up knowledge on thousands of subjects and be aware of other's ideas and ideals. You can refer to your memory bank to make more intelligent choices and more informed decisions.

I devoted about 40 years to teaching reading to others that have a difficult time learning to read. It does not come naturally to all people. Those of us that learned to read intuitively are truly blessed. A large percentage of children that start school do not have the innate ability to read. They have to be taught to decode, they have to be taught to distinguish sounds, they have to be taught the rules of spelling and decoding. I spent many years teaching Linguistics to the reading impaired. I loved every minute of it ! It is such a rewarding thing to hear a student say, with awe, "I can read that!"

When I first went to MDS, the class was told that I was to be their Linguistics Teacher, one girl went home and told her parents, "We got a new teacher today, she is going to teach us about Linguine."

I not only taught children to read, I also taught adult learners. The rewards are overwhelming. Just a few years ago I had the opportunity to be in the same group as a former adult learner. We had a hug and greet event and someone asked him how he knew me. He said, "She taught me to read and get through college!" How wonderful to be given the credit for that.

Everyone needs to be aware of the fact that there are so many among us that cannot read, through no fault of their own. Do all that you can do to help them get help. Almost without exception they are above average in intelligence and can be great contributers to society, if only someone will give them this gift.

Help a non reader! Ciao

Heroes in Action!

For a number of years we were a little short of heroes in the sports field. We found for the most part that too many of them had feet of clay. Not in just one sport but in a many, pro basketball, pro football, pro golf, and pro baseball. It's almost epidemic. In collegiate sports we found many of the coaches with questionable ethics and sordid personal lives and underhanded tactics for having winning teams. Hard for the youth of today to do any hero worshiping or find a figure to look up to. Do they have baseball cards today? I'm serious, I really do not know. If they do, do they list how many performance inhancing drugs that the 'hero' player took? Do they list the amount of denials, even under oath, that the 'hero' made? Do they list how many sleazy affairs the 'hero' has had? It staggers the immagination to think of it.

So, it is so refreshing and breath taking to see the heroic tableau played out on the baseball field the other night. Two men that will go down in my book as heroes. An umpire, named Jim Joyce, that broke into tears when he saw the replay of the play that he called that cost the pitcher, Armando Galarraga to miss getting credit for pitching a perfect game. We depend on the umpire's eyes, he was just two or three feet from the base, to call the plays. But modern day technology with cameras rolling and instant re-plays being available, he was proven wrong.

There by bringing tough love into play. The ump is always right even when he's wrong! We heard it, he called it and we have to abide by it. I know everyone of us have attended games or watched them on television when we know full well that the ref or ump is dead wrong, we have to bite the bullet and let it go. In this case the wrong decision denied a young pitcher his fifteen minutes of fame! The call, if called right, would have been the final out in a perfect game. "We was robbed!"

The young pitcher and the umpire embraced and the ump appoligized and cried over his egregious error. Galarraga consoled him and smiled while his team mates showed their outrage. Bud Selig the baseball commissioner remained steadfast in his decision that the call stands. He cited untold problems that would spring to the front if he were to reverse the ump's call.

Jim Joyce, openly admitted that he 'blew it' and did not appoloigize for his tears. He explained that he is Irish and shows his emotions and he wept over his error. That's the courage that we all want from our heroes, how can we not forgive him and love his valor?

Armando Galarraga was so gratious and forgiving and went to the ump and embraced him to reassure him that he could live with the error. He smiled but brushed off praise for that by saying he frequently smiles when he is emotional. What a pair!!

Both participants in that tableu will long be remembered in baseball. I hope every dad or mom points to those heroes as examples for their young sons and daughters. Galarraga said he is sad but he knows he pitched a perfect game. The first 28 out perfect game. He lauded Jim Joyce for saying he was sorry and admitting he made a mistake. He voiced his respect for Joyce. I'm voicing my respect for both of these men.

Galarraga was presented with a new Corvette to help him ease some of the pain.

Tigers -3 Cleveland -0 Ciao.

Stature

In kindergarten and in lower grades of school, one of the tasks of honor, is being the "Line Leader". The line leader sets the standard for all of the rest of the line participants! It is a note worthy chore that gives great pride to the one assigned to the duty. "Mom, I get to be the line leader this week!' Oh, joy! There are various ways of lining up in schools, "Class, line up alphabetically," or "Class, boys on this side , girls on that side, " Class, as I call your name line up" etc. etc.

Wgeb U ebtere Whoops, I just looked up and it seems I have my fingers on the wrong keys, sorry about that! Anyway, when I entered first grade at age five, I automatically became the line leader because I was the shortest one in the class. No variations, line up smallest to tallest. That set the pattern for every line that I was involved in for the next twelve years. Today, it would be considered a discriminatory practice, but people were not as sensitive in those days. In my case it was wonderful because it made me feel important, so to speak, I was the LEADER! I never
thought to analyze just why I was always number one, I just knew that I was and felt that it was my place in the scheme of things.

Think about it! I never had anyone in front of me so in my perspective, I was tall! Therefore, I acted tall. My point being that your size doesn't matter as much as your actions. Act tall! Ciao.

The Livin' is Easy!

When I was young, really young, like 10 years old or so, we used to chant a little rhyme: "I wear my silk pajamas in the summer when it's hot, I wear my flannel nightie in the winter when it's not, and sometimes in the spring-time and sometimes in the fall, I jump right in between the sheets with nothing on at all!" I think that was followed by "Glory, glory, hallelujah " repeated two or three times and ended with, "nothing on at all'. The way the weather has been in the last year or so I keep all the possibilities at hand at all times. What ever is called for, that's what I wear or don't wear as the case may be.

My grandpa Morrissey had a picture on the wall in his hall ,of a man, standing in a driving rain storm with an inside out umbrella and the title was,"Weather is weather, whether or not." Frankly, I never got it! Incidentally, he had another picture of an old man walking toward his farm house in deep snow. The man had a jug in his hand that was leaving a trail of ,what I took to be syrup, that was leaking out onto the snowy ground. It was titled, "Ignorance is bliss". Philosophy 101.

We went to see the Louisville Bats play the other night. It was a pleasantly warm summer night, and the Bats were having a good night, they played as if they knew what they were doing. The crowd was laid back and seemed to be enjoying the game. Brian and Larry had made arrangements to meet the local member of the Zamboli (sic) fire works team to join him on the bridge to see him ignite the fire works display that was taking place immediately after the game. Larry and Brian left at the seventh inning stretch and walked to the Kennedy bridge to meet him. Linda and I stayed behind to watch the last two innings of the game. Bats won! I ran to the rest room so that I could get back in time to see the display of fireworks. When I came back, it had started to rain, rather heavily. Soon followed by horrendous lightning and thunder, the fireworks paled in comparison to the heavenly fireworks display. Linda and I were protected by the second tier of seats overhead. It was like standing behind a falls. Fireworks accompanied by crashing thunder and flashing lightning. Wowzer!

As soon as the fireworks finished, I'm sure it was an abbreaviated display, Larry called and gave Linda directions to come over and pick him and Brian up. Linda was a little unsure so she drove through the teeming rain and departing fans with one hand on the wheel and the other holding the phone with Larry navigating. They were under a vioduct that is over River Road. They were quite wet and very glad to see us arrive. They looked like a couple of drowned homeless guys lurking under the vioduct. We cranked up the heat in the car and drove Brian over to the Bats' parking lot to his car. Where as, we agreed to meet again next Friday night for a repeat. Seems the pyrotechnic dude asked the boys to give it a try next week again. Lord willin' and if the creek don't rise" I love adventures!!

The good ole' summer time is in full force right now. Late May and early June and we're having a lot of days in the 90's. I've put my winter nighties on hold so I can be ready for what July and August brings. Or wait a minute, maybe I can jump between... oh, well. Ciao.

Memorial Day

I honor all of the men, women, and children that have lost their lives because of the wars of mankind. 'War is such an ugly thing and I pray each day that we can have peace on Earth without war. I don't see it happening. It seems that there has been at least one, and sometimes many more wars going on in this world for as long as the Earth has been in existance. Will it ever end? Will mankind ever learn? Wars are fought over property, deeds, water rights, personal jealousy,and many other things but mostly it is fought over religion. So help us ,God.