Rate Hike, Again?

Damn, What’s up with the U.S. Postal Service?  Are they not out of debt?  I can’t keep up.  I will not by another roll of stamps.  EVER!!!!   I’ve always purchased stamps in the 100 stamp roll.  Seems as I never ran out when I do this.  Purchasing stamps by the book, I never had enough.

Now, I bought a roll of stamps back when they were 37 cents.  Then, not long after, they went to 39 cents.  Not a problem, I only had a few left, so I went and bought 1 cent stamps.

No sooner than I was done with those I bought the new 39 cents stamps in the 100 count roll.  And wouldn’t you know it, they would raise the rate again.  This time to 41 cents.  WTF?

Again, I say, what’s up with that?  Last I heard, the US Postal Service was out of debt and had a great thing going.

No wonder why I’m starting to use E cards.

Happy, Happy!

Today is a very special day.  Today is mom’s day.  Be sure to spend time with her!  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to put flowers on my mothers grave today, so I went a few weeks ago and bought her some beautiful flowers and placed along her tombstone.

Remember all the sacrifices moms make for us.  Moms do all kind of amazing things, so lets make this a special day for them.

Today, my cousins and I are taking their mom to a restaruant she wants to go to.

What are you doing?

Happy Moms’ Day!!!

Never Imagined

I’ve been putting off the inevitable for a few weeks.  I was suppose to go last night and completely forgot.  I remembered today.  Of course I would remember, today, I don’t feel well.  I’m sure it’s just allergies but that’s another story.

Today, I went to Wal-Mart.  I know, I know, I’ve been saying how much I hate that place.  Well, tonight was very different.  I drove up, not very many cars in the parking lot.  I walk in, same thing, not many people inside either.

I do my shopping, browse serveral aisles, and see many associates stocking shelves.  Everyone of them asked how I was doing, and if I needed help.

Finished with my shopping, I walked up to the checkout and didn’t have to wait but a few short minutes.  The cashier didn’t seem wore our, she smiled, and asked if I found everything ok.

I would have never imagined walking into a Wal-Mart and having this kind of experience.  Perhaps the new Super Target has offered the management new ideas on how to operate a store.

A Day In The Life

We all have our moments in time. Days in our lives we never forget, or want to forget. Each day also brings something meaningful, or we make some mistake and we learn from it.

This morning was no different. This morning I awoke and started my normal routine of getting ready for the day. It’s the usual wake up, get a shower, get dressed, turn the TV on to watch some news, etc… There was nothing out of the ordinary except the little earthquake that rattled some of us here in Middle Tennessee. I slept right through that.

After taking my little kids to school I started picking my middle school students. Two of the students that I have purposely separated asked if they could sit together and work on a school project. My response of course was no that that was why it’s called “home work” I thought to myself “it’s TCAP week, there shouldn’t be any projects going on” As they went to sent down one student said to the other “Don’t worry about it, he doesn’t care”

These kids were saying that I do not care. Do you know how upsetting this was for me? All I could think about was how special each one of these kids are to me. I let this build up to the point of tears.

Before I let them off the bus I started to ask for a show of hands of how many of them thought I did not care. I didn’t though. Instead, I told them about the comment and how one comment no matter how directly or indirectly it is said to someone, can hurt.

What I did want each one of them to know though, the fact that I’m just a bus driver isn’t the issue. I’m not a bus driver because I have to be. I am a bus driver because I want to be. Then I wished them a wonderful day.

Just as teachers and administrators are in those rolls for a reason, it takes a special person to do what we each do. There’s a poster hanging in the school that says “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” That is exactly how I felt.

It is amazing at how simple the day can start. Just as any other day, we do our routines, and then it just changes dramatically. In the end though, you realize, learn, and remember why you do what you do.

Check This Out

Today I was starving.  I was craving Taco Bell.  Imagine that!  Taco Bell in Smyrna seems closer than the one in La Vergne, so that is why I usually go there.  As it would have it, today is another day that I have terrible service there.

When I arrived, I met a friend that was already there and had already placed his order.  He and I talked for well over 20 minutes.  His order arrived and I was left waiting.

After another five minutes or so, one of the employees walked up and got a drink from the soda machine.  Which is fine, but she took a drink on the front line.  For those of you that have ever been in food service know that is a “NO NO”  She disappeared, I peeked around the corner and saw her conversing with another co-worker.  Now keep in mind that I’ve been waiting for almost 30 minutes now.

When she came back in to customer view, she still had her gloves on, she never washed her hands and she rubbed her hands over her clothing.  GROSS!!!!!

It was at this point, I called for a manager.  After demanding a full refund I left telling the other customers I hope they had patience because I had been in line for almost 30 minutes.

I left and went to Mc Donalds.  There I was greeted with a smile and friendly service.  My food was served in less than two minutes.  There were two managers in clear view.  The store was clean and the condiments were all stocked!

It will be a very long time before I visit the Taco Bell in Smyrna.

What To Do Now

Is it just me, or does it seem like WKRN is making a fast withdrawal? First we have our favorite blogger get trampled on by relentless comments, then the then boss leaves the company, and now the new person wants to do away with the weekend morning newscast

Now, over at VV, they are letting him go because of the almighty dollar? What’s next?  Will they can the whole Nashvillewx.com thing to?

Maybe I am blind, or maybe my loyalties aren’t where they should be. When I moved to Nashville ten years ago, my tv was always on channel 5 news. They always seemed to have the best technology, the best personalities, the best of everything. The one thing they didn’t have, or at least I didn’t see it, was a sense of belonging to the community. I never really felt the community was covered well.

Then the personalities changed and I didn’t like it. So flipped through the locals channel 4 and 2. Thought maybe one of them had something the other didn’t. I landed on channel two and learned they were launching the first full time blogger to run NiT.

That was it, I was hooked afterall, how cool is that? A news channel with a blog? Simply unheard of.

My tv is now in search of the next local channel to stay in tuned too.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to all you Leap year Babies.  :)  You guys are lucky, you get to age once every four years.

Keeping My Mouth Shut Too Long

First of all, If you have never been a bus driver, then you have no idea what goes on.  Make your accusations, make you assumptions, blame who you want to blame.  The fact of the matter is, One adult, 60-90 students.  Number one priority for a bus driver is the safety of the bus and it’s passengers, meaning that 90% of the time the drivers’ eyes should be on the road.

The other 10% is rotating from left to right or right to left, looking from mirror to mirror.  These kids are not stupid, they know when the driver is looking in that mirror!

I say this from experience, I drive a bus!  Did you know that if a fight breaks out on a bus that we as drivers are not to intervene?  We are not suppose to touch the students.  Policy is get on the radio and get some help.

Many times, the kids are screaming and yelling, and you ask them to be quiet, repeatedly!  Then you scream SHUT UP! Then the bus is quiet for the rest of the ride.  Did you know we aren’t suppose to say shut up to these kids?  Why not?  It works.

As I am driving, my focus is on the road, when the kids make a sudden noise, or something “out of the ordinary” I look up.  If I see something, I take care of it.  If I don’t, I take it someone was horseing around, and I carry on about my business.

I have four schools I drive.  Two runs at the same elementary schools, one middle and one High.  On my elementary run, I have the older kids on one side, the younger ones on the other.  On the middle and High runs, I have boys on one side and girls on the other.  I’ve been doing this for a few years now for the middle school.  I recently started this with the high school.

There are a hundred things that go on during a bus route.  The driver can not see everything regardless of that big mirror in front of him.

I do not know all the facts of what happened on February 20th on that bus in Murfreesboro, I do know the driver of that bus, I do know what he has told me, and hearing what he has to say and reading the news stories, I think he did exactly what he was suppose to.

People are wanting to blame the driver.  They are wanting answers.  Before the blame game starts being played, the facts need to be in order.

This and That

Just a few weeks ago, I heard a terrible thing, Lucky’s Nashville closed.  Just a few days ago, I read that it was permanent.  This was a wonderful place to hang out.

This morning, I read in Out and About online that the coffee shop next to Outloud bookstore had closed and was going through restructuring.

One more disappointing story I read is about Nashville Pride had decided to change the day of the festival from Saturday to Sunday.  For some reason, they think that being like other cities is good for nashville and that attendance would be more if it were on Sunday.

No Show Snow

Wouldn’t that be crappy?  A winter without a decent amount of wet white flakes on the ground.  It is not looking good for us people here in Rutherford County.  It was so strange to wake up this morning to see all the school closings west of us.

Seems as though there is a circle around us.  North of I 40 gets winter weather, south of Murfreesboro, east in the plateau, and west of the williamson county.  That’s our circle.  Maybe, I’ll wake up and see a good dusting on the ground.

I know that is my wish, I know it’s only because I work for the school system and want a three day weekend.  Is anything wrong with that?  Oh well.

Please, o please, let it snow, let it snow……..