BISD Naively Skipping Down Failure Road Again

A Beaumont school district committee again has its sites set on trying to get the voters to accept a steaming pile of unpalatable goo in the form of a a ridiculous $440 million bond issue.
Five years after its last bond issue went down in flames - and only months after the district failed to get a bond issue on the May ballot - BISD now hopes to plop its $440 million bond issue on the November ballot.
In a meeting Monday rife with cracks in the foundation and ancient wounds, the proposal includes $171.9 million for elementary schools, $59.9 million for middle schools, $51.8 million for high schools and $31.3 million for other facilities, such as an athletic complex.
For starters, this comes at a time when appraisal districts are jacking up property appraisals to market value, with lots of double-digit leaps out there this year.
There used to be a time when property owners could protest and at least get some kind of reduction. However, appraisal districts, under state pressure, are standing firm on their assessments, based on what I've seen and experienced personally.
Despite the lowering of school tax rates under the new statewide finance plan, voters might be wary of shouldering a bond payoff while seeing their appraisals soaring.
Secondly, BISD still can't seem to wrap its head around the idea of having a two-part bond issue. Proposition 1 would have all the desperate needs, and Proposition 2 would have all the bells and whistles, such as athletic complexes. The passing of Proposition 2 would nullify Proposition 1.
There are a lot of older voters in the demographic, and those people tend to turn out in force to vote, particularly when a school bond issue threatens to dig into their fixed incomes. They might be sold on the desperate needs but turn out in force to vote down the bells and whistles.
Voters in BISD need a choice. Just giving them a choice might make them more amenable to passing Proposition 2. It also improves the chances of at least ensuring that the desperate needs are addressed.
Lastly, $440 million is just a ridiculous sum, plain and simple. On Sept. 14, 2002, BISD voters crushed a $150 million bond issue by a vote of 8,309 to 5,099. That 62 percent of the vote is a STOMPING.
How in the world does the district think a $440 million bond issue will pass?
I'd love to see BISD have better schools, physically and academically. It makes the community a more desirable place to live. It improves the city's image and its chances to grow and lure more industry.
However, sadly, it just seems headed down the same road to failure as it did in 2002 and earlier this year, underscoring one of the myriad reasons why I packed up the family and moved the hell out of BISD a year ago.

Timewaster Of The Week-July 30

Here's your chance to get in touch with your inner superhero:

http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/

Basically, it asks a bunch of personal questions and then tells you what superhero you'd be.

I wound up being Iron Man, followed by The Green Latern.

I don't know diddly about these particular superheros, but I guess they like steak, beer, football and loud guitars.

Maybe I'll invite them over for Thanksgiving this year.

Here are my full results, and I find it odd that Batman finished behind three girls:

You are Iron Man -Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

Iron Man - 80%
Green Lantern - 75%
Spider-Man - 70%
The Flash - 70%
Superman - 65%
Robin - 55%
Hulk - 55%
Supergirl - 50%
Catwoman - 50%
Wonder Woman - 45%
Batman - 25%

Eschewing Pottermania

I've never read a Harry Potter book, although I'm told they're quite good and well-written.
I have seen a few scenes out of one of the movies, although I can't remember which one it was. It just happened to be the only thing worth watching on late-night TV.
Harry Potter books, I suppose, are the Led Zeppelin of literature. True fans just can't seem to get enough of the little wizard. They stood in line for hours to get the book at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
It's kind of silly, but I suppose it makes more sense than those booger-eating morons who camp outside a Krispy Kreme that's about to open its doors for the first time.
I've been tempted to read the Potter book series, but I don't read many books, and when I do, I tend to shoot for history, like stuff on World War II, the Civil War and, most recently, The Beatles. My wife will probably be glad when my Beatlemania phase passes, but it might be awhile, because the Beatles are kind of overwhelming.
This morning, another Pearson Family Adventure resulted in me putting my hands on a Potter book for the first time.
To make a short story long, my car battery died. The timing really sucked, too, because I had just strapped in the kids to take them off to Vacation Bible School, for which my wife is working this week. She has to go in early, so I volunteered to drop off the kids later so they wouldn't be all up in her business.
But after getting the kids fed, watered, pottied and strapped in, I was horrified to discover that the car wouldn't start. Having spent thousands of dollars on various home and vehicle repairs the past year or so, I just don't have the stomach for this kind of thing right now.
Luckily, the handy neighbor happened to be home and got my car started, but only after the wife had to rush home to get the kids and take them to VBS.
I drove straight to the Wal Mart, where I was told it would take about an hour to change out the battering, giving me time to wander aimlessly around the store. It was there that I wandered upon the stack of Potter books.
The big mystery surrounding this book - the last in the series - was whether the author decided to kill off protagonist.
So I picked up the book, turned to the last page and read the last couple of sentences, which solved the Potter death mystery.
And that's probably about all the Potter that I'll ever read.

Timewaster Of The Week-July 23

If you've ever wondered about the story behind a song, this is the place to go:

http://www.songfacts.com

This site is a clearinghouse for song background, and people add stuff all the time.

Check it out!

Timewaster Of The Week-July 16

This is not so much as waste of time as it is a test to see if you can pass a citizenship test.
Today, The Enterprise carried a story about the folks wanting to become U.S. citizens. One requirement is passing a test that has all sorts of questions about American history.
Sadly, some folks who already are U.S. citizens can't pass the test. To accompany the story, our reporter went out with a video camera and asked a group of everyday folks to answer some questions, with predictably amusing results. One woman thought Houston was the Texas capital, for example.
So how do you think you stack up? Find out here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13442226/

Some questions are rather tricky. I missed one question, the one about the original 13 states. Shamefully, I was off by one state.
Nevertheless, I passed the test with flying colors.
On a side note, reporters here, as well as the general public, often confuse the word "citizen" with "resident."
No one is a citizen of Texas or Beaumont. You only can be a citizen of a country. Otherwise, you're a resident.
Please adjust your files for future reference!

Jim Morrison Death Revelation Doesn't Mean Much Now

Sometime around spring 1981, a book called "No One Here Gets Out Alive" became quite popular among my high school friends.
The book is a biography about Jim Morrison and his band, The Doors, one of the biggest bands to come out of America. It's a fascinating story of a genius and world-class screwup, one of the more notable tragedies in rock 'n' roll history.
Morrison came from a good, hard-working military family (His dad was in the Navy) but quickly grew into something in the mid-1960s that belied his middle-class, average-American beginnings. Inspired by beat writers such as novelist Jack Kerouac and poet Allen Ginsberg, Morrison threw a unique, intellectual curve ball into rock 'n' roll lyrics.
The guy was said to be so smart and well-read that you could pick up a book among hundreds scattered around his home, read a sentence or two, and Morrison, without seeing the book, could tell you what it was.
Morrison certainly was no role model, but the biography did turn me on to Kerouac, which ultimately turned me on to journalism.
In our newspaper today, we carried an AP story about a book by Sam Bernett, a former nightclub manager who, apparently after keeping his mouth shut all these years, decided to reveal that Morrison died of a heroin overdose in the bathroom of his Paris club.
There was a time long ago when I would have found this kind of thing to be an amazing twist to the Morrison story.
The biography, if I remember correctly, says he died of a heart attack in the bathtub. It was 1971, and Morrison was only 27, but his body was that of an unhealthy man twice his age. He was a heavy cigarette smoker and drinker, and I'm sure he did his share of drugs at the time. All the abuse had all but destroyed his once-crooning singing voice as well as his amazing literary creativity. This was no longer the man who composed mind-blowing lyrics like those found in "The End."
The biography also notes the mysteries surrounding the death, such as few, if any, witnesses as well as no autopsy and a quick funeral. There was even the chance that Morrison, awaiting prison time in Florida for exposing himself on stage, faked his death and fled to Africa.
A recent Rolling Stone magazine article, if I remember correctly, told a different story, one where Morrison died of a heroin overdose in his Paris apartment.
Now, the overdose might have occurred in a nightclub, according to Bernett, who claims that drug dealers dragged out his body and dumped it in the apartment.
While all this is interesting, this news would have been mind-blowing for me a quarter century ago, but not today.
Today, I think of Morrison as a case of wasted potential. Based on their last two studio albums - "Morrison Hotel" and "L.A. Woman" - The Doors could have continued to evolve and become one of the most influential acts of the 1970s and perhaps beyond. Other than Morrison being a pain in the ass, The Doord didn't have the kind of divisive internal forces that broke up The Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Instead, Morrison became a lesson in what can happen if one of gifted brilliance achieves great power but cannot defeat the inevitable gnawing demons that come with the territory.

Timewaster Of The Week-July 9

Helicopter!

http://www.onemorelevel.com/games.php?game=148

This one has been around for years.

It's pretty simple and a lot of fun - if it doesn't drive you crazy.

It's been so long since I played it that I can't even remember my high score.

Damn, It's Good To Be A Handyman

My older son's autistic obsession is lights and fans. His room had an annoying fan that made a lot of noise, so he's had his eye on this $130 rocket ship ceiling fan at a local home-improvement store.
Last Sunday, the store's circular, delivered to me with the award-winning Beaumont Enterprise, advertised a decent ceiling fan on sale for $59. It has a REMOTE, so I gave Curt the choice between the rocket ship and the one with the remote, and he was all over the remote.
"I want THAT fan," he said.
So I bought it last Sunday and engaged in installation Wednesday, a perfect rainy-day project.
I think it took more than three hours, maybe four. It's all a blur.
Just for a silly ceiling fan.
I got the old fan off with no problem and the base for the new one installed with no problems ... until I got the whole thing assembled and realized that the blue wire was was supposed to go with the black wire, not the white one.
Had I flipped the switch, I might have gotten an unforgettable Fourth of July show.
So I had to take off a fan blade so I could hang the whole thing on this handy-dandy little nobby thing on the fan base. I hooked up the fan again, turned on the breaker and hit the switch, and the light and fan came on just fine.
However, the remote didn't work. The remote had to work.
It was then that I realized that I'd forgotten to install the receptor in there, so I had to go back and take down the whole shootin' match. Getting the wires all hooked up with the cumbersome, almost fully put together fan was challenging.
But, by golly, I did it.
However, while the remote then worked, I couldn't get the fan to change speeds or operate independently of the light. The fan had to change speeds and the light needed to work separately.
Meanwhile, Curt frequently chirped at me from downstairs:

"Daddy, are you done with the fan yet?"
"NO!"
"Daddy, does the fan work?"
"NO!"
"Daddy, can I come see the fan?"
"NO!"
"Daddy, are you done yet?"
(Silence)
"Daddy, YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

So I went through the whole de-assemble thing again to discover that the blue wires needed to be hooked together independently and not to the black wires. By this time, half the screws are stripped. My wife has managed to paint an entire room, and the paint is dry.
And it's waaaaaaaaaaay past BEER:30 p.m.
But, by cracky, the fan works fine now, and Curt is happy as a clam. Last night, the storm scared him and he came into our bedroom. He turned down an offer to climb in bed, saying he needed to go back and stay with his fan.
We weren't sure whether he was protecting his fan, or his fan was protecting him. Either way, they seem to be a couple now.
This weekend, I plan to fix the buckled laminant flooring (the product of the previous owner's never ending supply of pathetic, shoddy worksmanship) in the dining room AND replace a seal on my car's air conditioner compressor.
If you don't see another blog entry for a while, send money on behalf of me to the charity of your choice.

Timewaster Of The Week-July 2

This a timewaster you watch, not one you play.

It displays the talents of the king of all timewasters, someone highly skilled in the art of doing something that kills time and brings little or no good to society at large.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1765113

Also, for this week, I'll toss in a bonus timewaster that has a critical time element:

http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/09/games_celebrity/main2778623.shtml

Enjoy!