Memorial Day Weekend Catchup

Since most of us in the exciting food service industry work over the holiday weekends, there is little time to rest, much less blog. So here are a few items that have attracted my limited attention span over the last few days.

A & T Audit
In Greensboro, an audit at North Carolina A & T University has resulted in the discovery that more than two million dollars has been misused, misappropriated, misspent, or is simply missing. The interim chancellor, Lloyd Hackley, who requested the audit, does not appear surprised by the results. In a presentation for faculty and staff, Hackley wrote "Devolution to the condition we see at A&T required the involvement of 'leaders' at various levels committing, omitting, or tolerating ineffective, inefficient, immoral, and unethical activities." He also wrote that "Panderers and liars have violated and smutted this great university." You have to like a guy who doesn't beat around the bush. Unable to tolerate this level of criticism, the board of trustees are counting the days until the new chancellor arrives in July.

Mr. Rosie News
Mr.Rosie O'Donnell has announced that she would not return to "The View" after an exchange of views with Ms. Elisabeth Hasselback. Apparently, Mr. Rosie was upset that Ms. Hasselback had failed to come to her defense concerning more of Rosie's asinine comments. I am trying to see the downside of LESS Rosie available on television. In regards to "The View", if I want to see four women talking trash over coffee in the morning, I can see it live at Tex & Shirley's every morning.

In related news, Barbara Walters, who was previously believed to have been sane, has spoken at length about how Rosie will be missed. Ms. Walters, call your pharmacist at once! Apparently, there has been a mixup in your medication.

In my final note today about the renowned dyke, there was a clip on the news from Mr. O'Donnell's video blog. I would attempt to describe it but I can't stop the nausea long enough to do that.

STUPID PERSON SIGHTING!!!!
An employee told me on Monday that he had another job and would have to cut back on his hours working for us. Five minutes later, he asked for a cash advance so that he could buy pants to wear at his new job. The words "no way" could not get out of my mouth fast enough.
Many years ago at Casa Gallardo, I worked briefly with another manager, Roger Jacobs. One of Roger's favorite lines was, "Not just NO. Not just NO WAY. But NO F...ING WAY, BABY!!" I should have quoted Roger on this one.

Free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last!
My younger son graduated from high school on Friday evening. "Life begins when the dogs die and the kids move away." I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. With my luck, it's a train.

John Edwards' War on Poverty

You have to love John Edwards and his "War on Poverty". I haven't seen this many missteps since my ninth grade prom.

First he declared that there are Two Americas, the rich and the poor. He followed this up by moving into a 30,000 square foot home. I guess this was to let us know which America that he is in.

Then we found that he had worked briefly for a hedge fund that paid him half a million dollars for a little bit of work. Most people who vote Democratic don't even know what a hedge fund is. I guess that helps John.

Then his campaign pays $400 for John to get a haircut. Tell us that "Two Americas" fairy tale again. I guess that John is just doing his part to help hairdressers make more money.

Now comes the report that John charged $55,000 to deliver a speech about poverty at the University of California -Davis. How can it cost 55 Grand to speak about poverty?

John Edwards- Liar, fake, phony, hypocrite, politician, ambulance-chaser, the choices are almost endless.

A cross at church? Part 2

On Monday my son met with the principal at his school to discuss the now famous "Cross Incident"(See blog entry below). The principal explained that there was an unwritten rule that only school issued items could be worn on the graduation caps and gowns. That was his reason for telling him to remove the cross.

As all the world knows, "an unwritten rule is not worth the paper on which it is written". How do people find out about "unwritten rules"? I guess that you have to violate one to determine that it exists. That's a strange way for a school to operate.

Graduation is still on for Friday and my son has agreed to not wear a cross on his graduation gown. But the huge question that begs asking remains, "Why would a Christian school prohibit the wearing of a cross????"

Can't wear a cross at Church????

My younger son graduates from Vandalia Christian School on Friday. Today was the baccalaureate service for the graduates-to-be. As my son walked into the church, I noticed that he had a cross hanging around his neck. I also noticed that other students had different medals hanging around their necks. Doesn't sound like much, right? Wrong!!

After the service, my son told us that he was in trouble with the principal. It seems that as they waited in line to enter the church, the principal saw his cross and ordered him to remove it. My son took it off and then when the principal walked away, he put it back on. I was angry because he disobeyed instructions from the principal. My wife was angry because he was ordered to remove the cross. I explained to them that by disobeying the directive, he had destroyed his credibility in any discussion about the wearing of the cross. He should have just stepped out of the line and spoken to one of us about the problem.

Why would a Christian School bar a student from wearing a cross? Much like the recent controversy over the Wren Cross at the Chapel at William and Mary, it makes no sense. If one cannot display a cross at a church, then where?? If a graduate in a baccalaureate service at a Christian school cannot display a cross in a church, then where??? There was a cross in the brickwork of the wall of the church, one on the Christian flag, one on the flagpole for the Christian flag, one on the altar and probably several others. Why not one more??

Students were allowed to wear medals for such accomplishments as valedictorian, attendance accomplishments, and academic achievements. But a cross that reminds us that Christ lives today and offers salvation is forbidden?? I am not a terribly religious man, I am a Methodist. But even to a Methodist, this makes no sense. The insanity level in this one is well off the charts, even by my standards.

Hopefully by tomorrow, sanity will have surfaced and we can all discuss this calmly. Graduation is Friday and I would hope that everything will fall into place. If not, there's always Plan B.

Virginia Tech

There has been much discussion about the murders at Virginia Tech and the lunatic involved so I thought that I would offer a few of my own comments.

1. Shootings happen at schools because they offer a target rich environment where everyone is unarmed. Laws prohibit firearms at schools so only criminals are armed.

2. Media coverage also offers the true psychotic the opportunity for fame. The Virginia Tech killer took time to go to the Post Office and send a video to NBC. Television networks, of course, deny any responsibility for influencing people in their actions. To accept this denial is to deny the usefulness of advertising on television. Wait!! Now I understand. Only the commercials influence people's actions, not the regular programming.

3. Privacy laws prevent us from finding out that someone is actually mentally ill and just about anything else. Of course, criminals are able to get your social security number, drivers license info, and anything else they need. Usually they get this information from the same government that won't tell you that your neighbor is a mass murderer.

4. We are more concerned about student self-esteem than safety. There is no way that a rational person would believe that the VT killer should have still been a student there.

So what can we do?? First, let's remove problem students who are interfering with the education process. Face the facts, we can't save them all. Second, let's arm the teachers. I can hear the howls from here! "Are you crazy?' First, I guess you didn't read the name of this blog. Second, assaults on teachers are a growing problem. They are so common in the local school system that they no longer make the news. If teachers were able to protect themselves, this problem would vanish almost overnight. Let's be honest. The first time that a student assaults a teacher and gets shot in response, we can send the School Resource Officer (police officer) for doughnuts. We won't be needing him anymore. Can we trust teachers to use this force wisely? The answer is simple. Can we trust problem students not to attack teachers and other students?

Let's face it, What we are doing now is not working and conditions are getting worse. Time to change directions.

Jogging not blogging

Ken Blitchington, the famous US Airways pilot who claims to be my "only friend", emailed me the other day asking when I was going to update my blog. I did not realize that it had been so long. So if you have been checking and finding the same stuff every time, I offer my apologies.

The last few weeks I have been on the exercise and diet bandwagon. I am getting up thirty minutes earlier in the morning for an invigorating run, jog, walk, limp. At least that is the order in which it usually happens.

The good news is that my blood sugar level is down, my blood pressure is down, and my weight is down eleven pounds. That leaves me with about twenty four pounds to go by October 1. I hate to admit it but I actually feel better.

The other evening after going out twice in three hours for the run, jog, walk, limp routine, my wife asked why I was pushing the exercise routine so hard. I replied that I was working on transforming myself into a lean, mean, love-making machine. When the laughter from the other side of the bed subsides, I will try to get a more coherent comment from her.

There is a forecast of rain today and my wife is going to a "Claymates" meeting so I am going to try to catch up a little here. She just asked if I wanted to go with her to the Olive Garden for the "Claymates" meeting. "Why would I go to a place I don't like to eat and hang out with a bunch of people dedicated to Clay Aiken? I'll try the do-it-yourself lobotomy kit instead."