Cellar Scribblings

[CellarDweller]

Hiya BetterMost friends!!!!

How is everyone doing?

Had a nice Mother's Day with mom and dad.   Mom didn't want any gifts.  She and dad are planning on a move at one point, so they are going to begin the purging process, so giving them stuff is counterproductive.  My brother Chris and I cheated on that.



We gave her stuff to replace some old, beat-up stuff she already has.  She has a bunch of scissors, none of them sharp anymore, so we got her a few new pairs of scissors in various sizes.  Also, in the kitchen, she has one of those over-the-door organizers that was falling apart, so we got her a new, more durable one.

We had Italian for lunch, but instead of 4 meals, we ordered only one meal (Chicken Francese and a side of Penne Ala Vodka) that we split.  We also ordered a number of different appetizers to split, so we would all have a variety of different foods for lunch.  We had mozzarella sticks, stuffed mushrooms, eggplant rollitini, garlic bread, and fried calamari.  With everything split 4 ways, it was a nice assortment of foods to try.


I have next week off, another "stay-cation".  I plan to meet up with a friend for lunch one day, and the rest of the days perhaps do some light cleaning, but other than that, things will be quiet.  If the weather is good, I'll spend some time cleaning out the car, and getting it washed.  It's been a while, but every time I get the chance to do it, it's either raining or about to rain, so it doesn't make sense to get it washed if it's only going to rain.

[CellarDweller]

Sorry to take over your blog, Chuck! Feel free to jump in at any time I would imagine there are differences in the education system in New Jersey -- and, for Jeff, Pennsylvania.

Chuckie: sorry to hog your blog.

Haven't read Jeff's posts yet!

Please feel free to continue!  Anytime interesting conversations happen here, I'm happy for them!  Never feel like you're derailing my blog in any way! 

Well, unless you're going to bash on Madonna or Nena, then you can stay away!   

[CellarDweller]

Since I've never had a dog in the race (i.e., no kids), I've paid next to no attention to school issues. I just pay my taxes. I'm not even completely sure I understand funding. I know I pay taxes to support the local schools. School districts also receive money from the state; I have no idea where that money comes from. I know there is a perpetual conflict over funding. The claim, which I'm sure is true, is that wealthy districts (higher tax bases) receive proportionately more money from the state than they need, while poorer districts, like Philadelphia, don't receive as much as they need.

As for schools themselves, I've never got the concept of "middle school." Obviously, it works, because it's been around for, what, 40 years now? "In my day," school was elementary school (grades kindergarten--6), junior high school (7--9), and high school (10--12). I was 14 when I started 9th grade, and 17 when I started 12th grade. I've always wondered at the wisdom of having 14-year-olds going to school with 17-year-olds (because of levels of maturity, and because teenagers can be just plain awful people), but, as I said, clearly it works.

Incidentally, my junior high school is now a middle school. I graduated (actually, correct grammar is "was graduated") from high school 45 years ago next month.

I tend to feel the same way as Jeff.  Since I've had no kids, it's not something I tend to consider.  I do know some people who are childless and will complain about the money that comes out of their paychecks to fund the schools.  I feel that if I benefited by others paying taxes when I went to school, it's now my turn to pay to benefit others.

Besides, the youngsters who graduated while I paid taxes may one day impact my life in some way, so it would've been to my benefit anyway.

[CellarDweller]

As for schools themselves, I've never got the concept of "middle school." Obviously, it works, because it's been around for, what, 40 years now? "In my day," school was elementary school (grades kindergarten--6), junior high school (7--9), and high school (10--12). I was 14 when I started 9th grade, and 17 when I started 12th grade. I've always wondered at the wisdom of having 14-year-olds going to school with 17-year-olds (because of levels of maturity, and because teenagers can be just plain awful people), but, as I said, clearly it works.

I actually think "junior high" might have been the anomaly invented for boomers. I've read novels about early 1900s kids going to four-year high schools. I do remember walking my older son to his first day of middle school -- 6th grade - thinking he seemed like a young kid while there were 8th graders with tree-trunk legs and facial hair. My son was fine because he's not easily intimidated but I can see it being a problem for some kids. However, I think the school kept the ages pretty separate.

In my town, that system changed while I was in it.

There was elementary school, which was K-6, then two different junior high schools (the "north" side and the "south" side, which was quite the rivalry) that was 7-9, and then high school, which was 10 - 12.

However, when I was a junior in high school, the high school started to accommodate the 9th graders, so we had a full 4 year high school.   

[Jeff Wrangler]

How is everybody doing? Your whole family has been completely vaxxed, haven't they?

Is your brother still on oxygen therapy?

[serious crayons]

Sorry to drag this out, but I had this comment all written yesterday and somehow forgot to hit "post." So here's the last I'll say on that subject. 

No. I think comparing running or winning a race to receiving an academic diploma or degree is comparing apples to oranges (except metaphorically).

Both are forms of effort (studying/running) made by an individual (student/contestant), within a publicly visible semi-standardized structure (school/track), with a staff providing assistance to the overall effort (teachers/race organizers), to meet a goal (winning/graduating) and be recognized for it (trophy/diploma).

There are obvious differences in specific details -- and graduating from a school is more complex and multifaceted than finishing a race -- but they follow the same pattern.

So we'll just have agree to disagree! 

[serious crayons]

I tend to feel the same way as Jeff.  Since I've had no kids, it's not something I tend to consider.  I do know some people who are childless and will complain about the money that comes out of their paychecks to fund the schools.  I feel that if I benefited by others paying taxes when I went to school, it's now my turn to pay to benefit others.

Besides, the youngsters who graduated while I paid taxes may one day impact my life in some way, so it would've been to my benefit anyway.

Agreed. I felt the same way before I had kids and I feel the same way now that my kids are out of school. People who complain about helping pay for schools are extremely short sighted, for the reasons you mentioned:

-- All public school graduates benefited from somebody's tax dollars, so this is paying it forward and its stingy to object to doing your part to keep the system going.

-- Kids in school today will someday have enormous power over your life, not just because they'll be running governments and companies and so on, but because their earnings will support your Social Security and Medicare. It's directly within your own interests to help them become as successful as possible. If they don't and the systems are struggling, they're the ones who will decide whether to cut benefits.

If only we could pick and choose where our tax dollars went! I have a few I'd like to cross off the list, myself. But the only power we have (except in voter referendums) is electing officials we think will represent our preferences, or lobbying them to do so.

[Sason]

Madonna-------><-----------Chuck's friends

[Sason]

Nena-------><-----------Chuck's friends

[serious crayons]

Wait, which is who in those illustrations? I don't know much about Nena, but I'm fairly certain Madonna would be the one doing the punching.