Blog High By the Fourth of July!

Normally right now I would be sleeping but thanks to the men and women who have fought and served/serve

Wrong holiday I think

to make sure you and I are safe (for you Americans reading this) I am well-rested this morning. I actually got Memorial Day off. It was normally a scheduled day for me to work but our Sgt. was very nice and gave us the option of having it off and not having to use a vacation day. If I had worked I would have gotten my regular pay for the day plus holiday pay but sometimes getting paid one time for not working is better than getting paid two times for working. When your weekend is Tuesday and Wednesday having a day off on Monday is one of those times I felt this time. So, now it is only 09:46 and I have been to Menard's to buy some more black mulch and have already spread it (TWSS) and I am blogging. Yesterday I did the front yard and mowed the front because it was threatening rain. Now it looks like rain and the grass in the back is really wet so the back will have to wait.Yesterday Cha Cha and I went to see the new Star Trek movie Into Darness and also began watching the new episodes of Arrested Development on Netflix. We will talk about both of those tonight when we record Dirty Laundry Podcast so I won't ruin that for you. 

Property taxes are due in four days. $3,100 now and another $3,100 in September. A lot of people have their taxes included in their mortgage but we decided not to pay the juice (interest) on our property taxes each month in the mortgage payment. We should really have our property reassessed while the prices are still low before the recovery that may occur one day occurs. We may have waited too long already. Plus, we have made so many improvements to the house and yard that it may actually hurt us? I don't really know all that much about it. Hard to believe huh?

Public Enemy John Dryden

There is a high school social studies teacher in Batavia, IL, John Dryden, that is facing disciplinary action for informing his students of their Constitutional rights. The reason this is a big deal to me is that I went to college with this guy and worked on a newspaper with him. The students were given a survey asking about their illegal drug and alcohol usage. When John (I feel I can call him John rather than Dryden because I know him and this is only a blog and not a newspaper article) picked up the surveys from his mailbox ten minutes before he was to give them to the students and he noticed that they had the students' names on them. He informed the students of their Fifth Amendment rights and said they did not have to answer the questionnaires if it involved them incriminating themselves. In school I always thought he was an a-hole but I must blog that I agree with him here. I was an a-hole in school sometimes, as I am now too every 28 days or so, and I haven't talked to him in about 30 years so maybe he is a really great guy now. No MATTer what - right is right. He is a social studies teacher who just got done teaching the Bill of Rights; what did the school expect? Now he is facing possible disciplinary action up to and including termination. They always throw that "up to and including termination" in there. If he does get fired for this I predict I may be one degree from John Stewart. But, the school will buckle to the heat that, undoubtedly, is headed their way. I know he always wanted to be an actor so this may be his ticket.

Th sun is coming out. Good thing I didn't take a shower yet because I may get to mow the backyard now. I am sitting here in a pair of shorts so the transformation to Lawnmower Man is a very quick one. Yes, that's all I am wearing ladies. If I get it done today I won't have to do it tomorrow and there is a chance of rain for every day for the next week so that would be good. I mowed it last week right before all of the rain and I may get that done this week too. The rain is good. I noticed when I went to get the mulch this morning that the corn is already ankle high. That's kind of a nice measurement because everybody's ankles are about the same height. That whole "knee high by the fourth of July" thing isn't the same because everybody's knees are not the same height - those are based more on the lengths of your legs and your height. In case you are not from the MIDDLEwest - "knee high by the fourth of July" is where the corn should be if it is a good crop year. I don't see any problem there this year.

I had better get more clothes on so the neighbors eyes don't burn-out when I go out to mowing and I'd better do it soon before the rain arrives. Thanks a lot for stopping in. If you have mail for Dirty Laundry Podcast there is still time to get it in before we record tonight. Have a great rest of your day and your night. TTTT (almost certainly)...MITM (secret identity of Lawnmower Man) Out! TA!