Stop hitting "Reply to all"!!!!!

I hate group emails.  Not because the sender wants to give info to lots of people at once, but because the recipients often respond to EVERYONE with personal greetings that belong to just one person in the group.

WHY DO YOU DO THAT?????

Seriously, WHYYYYYY???????

Are you too stupid to find the ONE email address in the group and just send your birthday/anniversary/recovery wishes to the ONE person who merits them?

Or, do you want the rest of us to know how caring and loving you are that you went to the trouble to click and comment and now we can all read it...???  UGH. 

I've mentioned this before.  I have asked politely that you don't reply to ALL.  I have asked that our group emails be blind-copy so that this idiocy is weaned out of the group.  I've even sent memes as reminders, all to no avail.

You are clogging up my inbox and annoying the snot out of me. 

STOP IT.

If I ran the country...

I don't want to be president.  I can't be president.  Only a crazy person would want to be president.

BUT- if I were president, I would change how we do income taxes in this country.

First- there would be no filing of taxes every year.  It's such a waste of time.  Your employer would take your taxes up front and that would be it.  The only folks who would have to file would be ones who get tips or work as freelancers.  This means we wouldn't need the IRS except for maybe a dozen agents.  The rest would have to find legitimate careers.  Saves money right there.

Second- you would only pay 10% of your income.  No loopholes, child credits, exemptions, or other hogwash.  10%.  Everyone.  You use the country's infrastructure, you pay.  This includes the filthy rich.

Third- you only have to pay taxes for 50 years.  From the age of 20 to 70, you pay taxes.  Before and after you can make as much as you want without paying taxes on that income.

This is all for the federal government.  The states would have sales tax of no more than 10%.  Of course, groceries would be untaxed and every August school supplies would be untaxed, but other than that, 10%.

A government that can't run itself on this should be ashamed of itself.  

Moses, you can't be serious...

Somewhere in the desert...

Moses: Ok folks, I know these snake bites are painful and you are dying, but I have a solution. I made a big bronze snake and put it up on a pole so everyone can see it. Just look at it and you won't die. 

Israelite 1: You want me to look at a snake? 

Israelite 2: Isn't that idolatry? 

Israelite 3: I don't like snakes. 

Israelite 4: We've never looked at snakes before. 

Israelite 5: My husband doesn't really like Moses, so we aren't going to look at the snake. 

Israelite 6: I have to go over that hill and squint real hard into the sun to see that snake. Might not be worth the trip. 

Israelite 7: I have a natural immunity to snake bites. 

Israelite 8: Moses isn't the boss of me. 

Israelite 9: I know my rights, you can't make me look at a snake. 

Israelite 10: Hey, I bought this medicine from a passing trader.  He says it's for worms. Those are just small snakes, right? 

And Moses wept.

Finally, rain

Blessed rain! After almost two weeks of smoke, the skies opened up this morning- lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and the rain scoured out the foul air and brought a huge measure of normalcy to this damaged part of the country. It's like a weight has been lifted. Remember to pray for those who lost so much in the wildfires- it is heartbreaking to see the news.

Day 5 of the wildfire smoke

Some media are saying that the air quality is "beyond hazardous", that it can't be measured. Whatever. I just know that it is lighter outside today than yesterday but it isn't because of less smoke, it's just smoke that is more white than brown. I am glad to not be evacuating, but I am tired of feeling like a brisket. Monday's predicted rains can't arrive soon enough for us. Praying for the firefighters and those who have lost everything.

Be a teacher, they said...

Be a teacher, they said,

     you are good at explaining things!

Be a teacher, they said,

     you are very smart.

Be a teacher, they said,

     you are creative and good with kids!

Be a teacher, they said,

     you will have a good pension when you retire.

Be a teacher, they said,

     technology will never be able to replace a live person who has a relationship with a class.

What they never said was that some day in the future, while America was sleeping, China would unleash a weapon of war on the world called Covid-19 and education as we know it would be irrevocably changed.

As it turns out, I am not good at explaining things on Zoom.  I'm not even remotely smart with how to assign, assess, or advance my students remotely.  My creativity has gone out the window.  I'm 10 years too young to retire, and technology that I don't fully understand has replaced me.

As a teacher, you always hope to get your students to learn on their own- to make yourself obsolete.
I never thought it would happen to all my students.  All at once.  Overnight.

But wait- it gets worse!

2 years ago, my boss suggested that I become an administrator.  I just finished a two-year Administrator Certificate program at WSU- 1 year of that included an internship.  There are now no jobs available for administrators in the dozen districts within driving distance.  If you thought teachers were useless when there is no school, administrators are more so!

When there are no students, you don't need anyone in charge of discipline.
When enrollment is down and there are fewer teachers, you don't need anyone in charge of evaluating instruction.

Obsolescence squared.

Maybe I could drive for Amazon.  Of course, I'm an excellent driver.