Weather and the Rock

Tomorrow a huge storm is supposed to pommel the area around my house. This would include rain, snow and the dreaded: ice. So far today, the weather people have changed their forcasts 5 times, but we are trying to prepare for the worst. Tomorrow, before D-day, I will buy a fresh gallon of milk and make sure my DVDs, books and games are all ready for possible school closing and bored kids! The last bit of bad weather had us preparing for at the least 2 inches of snow--we got maybe, 3 flakes! I wonder what job qualifications one has to have to tell people what the weather is going to do. A friend of mine, schooled in Arkansas folk stuff, told me once that if the squirrels were fat, it was going to be a bad winter.
For those who aren't familiar with Little Rock, Arkansas, snow and ice are really a bad thing. There are no level, straight streets in this city. Everything is hilly and curvy. When the conditions are bad, this place closes down. In 2000, there was an ice storm and it took months to get things back to normal. Now, everytime winter weather is predicted, the natives panic. All I know is that if the weather does take a turn for the icey worst, I will be staying at home with my husband, kids and some form of entertainment. Popcorn anyone!

graffiti

My children attend private school. We are not wealthy, by any means, but the public schools in Little Rock are horrible specifically the middle,junior and senior high schools. Our high school is Luthern High School and it is a fabulous diamond in the rough. I cannot believe the academics this small school provides and the faculty is top notch. Now, we are not the very cheapest private school, nor are we the most pricey-by far. We are proud of our school and work hard to pay for it and keep it maintained. This involves many volunteer hours that students and parents donate unselfishly. A couple of nights ago, our high school was graffitied. Some of it was the usual gang type wordage, but some bone head drew a picture of a penis. Trying to power wash this garbage off our school didn't help and we are trying to figure out how to get rid of the damage. Not only that, someone thinks it is humorous to shoot paint balls at the vehicles and school building. One of the teachers got his car paint bombed, but was fortunate enough to take care of it before it was ruined. Now these teachers are valueable and they struggle to conduct their lives as true role models for our teenagers. God knows they don't get paid enough. They can't afford such damage. I hate vandalism, always have. Laying waste to something that someone has worked hard to build or create is so very wrong. What is being taught to kids today that make these actions alright? Parents, wake up! Certainly you can't be proud of these little hoodlums! We are working very hard to save our school because we are having financial issues there. With a bad economy, attendence is down and it has been painful. We love this school and it is responsible for educating some fantastic, respectful kids. I wish justice could be served and the knotheads responsible would get some jail time and also community service time and a big kick in the ass. But, instead I will crawl in bed and hope a prayer will do some good. I am going to try and get some photos of the graffiti, but I am challenged with technology and it may never happen!
Have you got any graffiti anger issues? I used to think Son#'s graffiti spread throughout our house was the most disturbing I would ever come in contact with--not now!

moving on up the career ladder

Tomorrow could be the first day of the rest of my life, or not. Yes, I am stepping up in the world--not ready for the highrise apartment in the sky though. I am trying to leave the world of the lunch lady behind me--after 7 years, it is surprisingly easy to do. I could tell you stories that go on behind the scene of the school cafeteria world. Lunch ladies are a breed unto themselves. They are surviving, utilizing a skill and a talent. It is hot, sweaty work with a lot of criticism and few rewards. Not all lunch ladies should be lunch ladies. If you aren't able to work, learn, cook, clean or take direction, this is not the job for you. Also, if you want to look like a woman, this is not the job for you. Your hair is in a net, your nails cannot be lengthy or polished, your clothes are extremely not attractive, but functional! You are given menus to create that usually don't make much sense. And if the food isn't popular with the kids, guess who gets blamed? Yes, the ladies and men in white. I think one of the hardest things to get used to in the kitchen besides the burns is the amount of work that has to be crowded into a short time. Arriving to work at 7:30 am, you get from that time until 10:00 to have the food cooked, panned up and ready to go because the little darlings eat at 10:00. Some menu items are easy to get through, it is just a matter of timing. Others are butt kickers. I have noticed over the years I was employed at this job, new hires (which are few) are not ready to do the work. If they get through the cooking part, the cleaning part eats their lunch. I would not be surprised if the dish machine that cleans all the trays used by the kids has not been adequately cleaned in over a month. A person is rotated weekly through the job schedule. When it is a person's turn to do baking, they are also responsible for washing trays and cleaning the dishroom. Every time my baking rotation came about, it took me at least 2 days of scrubbing the machine to get it clean. If a health inspector were to examine it now, he would probably find so much food residue left in the improperly cleaned machine, it would be a health violation. It is by this time really gross. What makes this job tough is that it is over at 1:30 pm. There is no overtime and unless you stay you rarely get a chance to clean properly. If you are short handed for the day, and this happens often, you can forget about doing a great job. The poor kitchen managers have to deal with rotten attitudes and workers who are worthless. Considering that you do not even have to have a high school degree to do this job, you can understand why the help is not top notch. I would like to offer kudos to my two Mabels. Mabel Hardin my great manager who was railroaded by a horrible principal and Mabel Forresterr, the best cook and trainer and friend ever. When she retired, the profession was hurt. I am sure I will talk about my Mabels another time. I admire them and respect them for all they have done with their lives when the odds were not in their favor. I have been a lunch lady for the last 7 years and have resigned my position. It is now time to move on and I am looking forward to it. My rheumatologist is most happy with my decision. My knees feel better already. Have you ever had a crappy job and finally were able to reap the reward of quitting the job?

Football Picks

January 17th
Today is my very first attempt at blogging. I am also sharing my football picks victories with the rest of the world. It is an established tradition at the Simms' house to participate in picking football games. Every year before the college and pro football seasons begin, I make a list of approximately 20 college games and all the pro games for the entire season. Each week we choose our teams and cheer for them accordingly. Well, this year we decided that since we did this with all the college bowl games (I won, thank you very much) we would also do the pro play-off games. I have to announce that I am winning in the play off picks. Another pick we did at the beginning of the year was to pick the two teams that would play in the super bowl. I picked Minnesota and Indianapolis. This was tough to do because I am a HUGE Denver Bronco fan. Well, so far, I am still in the game. What about you? What are your picks?