|
10543. Magoseph - 7/26/2004 5:51:17 AM Hi, Max. 10544. Magoseph - 7/26/2004 11:52:40 PM The Bizarro cartoon in the morning paper shows a prison guard standing and looking into a prison cell. The caption states:
"You were right. The horizontal bars DO make the cells more spacious. Thanks for the tip, Martha." 10545. judithathome - 7/27/2004 12:03:49 AM Just learned from the newspaper that property values in our little village rose 30.4% this past year. Where's Kuligin when I want to gripe about local taxes going up far more than Bush's rebate? ;-) 10546. Magoseph - 7/27/2004 4:23:39 AM Property taxes are high in our area. I guess they will be higher next year since the schools and the libraries will need more money. Some federal entitlements based on the percentage of low-income families have been eliminated this year. Our school districts do not qualify anymore for competitive grants available to others a few miles away. These grants require 30 per cent of students in a district to receive free or reduced-cost lunches. Less than 2 per cent of families with children ages 5-17 have an income below the poverty level here.
The real-estate boom building has driven the poor out of here, luckily with plenty of money since their modest homes were bought for the most part, just for the land.
10547. arkymalarky - 7/27/2004 4:29:54 AM Sales tax is killing the working poor here, and we're one of the poorest states in the country. We have something like the fifth highest sales tax in the US. People in poverty are much worse off now. A number districts, especially in the Delta, have over 95% F&R lunches, and the same ones are generally about that % African-American.
That type of district filed the education lawsuit that created such a stir here, and for "winning" it, they find themselves consolidated to another district and disappearing as a separate entity with their own school board and local representation. No more lawsuits for them, so I guess the state fixed their wagon. 10548. arkymalarky - 7/27/2004 4:30:40 AM My area, btw, is 60-75% F&R lunches and about 30-40% African-American. 10549. wonkers2 - 7/27/2004 5:04:05 AM F & R similar to S & M? 10550. Magoseph - 7/27/2004 5:24:09 AM S & M is more fun. 10551. Ms. No - 7/27/2004 5:26:09 AM You rang? 10552. judithathome - 7/27/2004 6:28:09 AM Robert, the place I got my cane was a Crafts Mall. An old guy makes these unique ones with different types of handles. He has some with antique door knobs, glass ones and beautiful china ones.
I would imagine you could find interesting ones in antique malls, too. I'm sure there are some near you...and craft malls, too. If not, come up to Fort Worth! 10553. judithathome - 7/27/2004 6:30:30 AM Here's a site that looks interesting:
Elegant Canes 10554. Ms. No - 7/27/2004 7:17:23 AM All I have to say today about unpacking is that I've got Neil and Barbra singing "Please don't bring me tchotchkes anymore." over and over in my head.
What the fuck am I supposed to do with a spun glass elephant? And miniature tea sets? I can't just throw them out can I? I mean, somebody gave them to me. Dead people, even.
Lord, save me from my sentimental attachment to the very idea of gifts. 10555. robertjayb - 7/27/2004 7:21:58 AM That site seems exactly what is needed, Judith. I will pass the link along to the daughters and they can have a fine wrangle over making a selection. Thanks.
10556. Absensia - 7/27/2004 7:25:22 AM Hmmmm, if you don't have enough shelf space, there is always Ikea for another bookcase, Ms No, if you have enough wall space. Otherwise, I say "store" them, assuming you have some storage space. I have none of the above. I bought some long boxes that fit under my bed and stored things in them, some sweaters, etc., and also some things like yours that I couldn't get rid of. I also got rid of everything I could, and I keep weeding out things. P.S. I still have two boxes to unpack from the move two years ago. 10557. Ms. No - 7/27/2004 7:45:09 AM I have only two closets --- both of them the 3x3 hanging stuff up type. Fortunately I don't have many clothes that I actually need to hang up so I can devote one closet entirely to storage.
I have 30 under the bed boxes full of books. I can only fit 10 of them under my bed. Time to finally sort and discard some books. Sob!
I also don't have much wall space --- lots and lots of windows, which pleases me, but it makes it hard to hang pictures or position bookshelves.
There's more space than it feels like right now, but I have to get over the idea that I can't store non-kitchen items in the kitchen. You know, up on those really high top shelves in the cupboard which you can't put anything useful on anyway? That's a perfect place for storing things that I really don't need to ever see but can't feel right about discarding.
I just need to get off my duff and move rather than bemoaning. I go along quite well for awhile and then I stall out and just sit in awe at how much is still left to do. I just unpacked a box last night that has been moving with me for nearly 8 years. Yikes.
10558. arkymalarky - 7/27/2004 7:46:34 AM I've been trying to deal with piles that have accumulated over the past two or three years while I was working on all this ed crap and Bob's dad was so sick, and I'm having a devil of a time figuring out what to do with them. I have the space if I just want to chunk them somewhere (which may have to work as a temporary solution before this weekend), but I don't, so it's going to take figuring and work getting spots set up for them.
In the meantime, when you and Keoni come, Judith, cover your heads before you open any cabinets or closet doors. ;-) 10559. arkymalarky - 7/27/2004 7:49:50 AM I just need to get off my duff and move rather than bemoaning. I go along quite well for awhile and then I stall out and just sit in awe at how much is still left to do.
That sounds so much like me it isn't even funny. I didn't realize how much I'd neglected until I had time to look around, then it just seemed too overwhelming to tackle. Once it's done and you can work on the look and the details you can add that are exciting, that's a lot of fun, so I use it as my carrot. 10560. Absensia - 7/27/2004 7:59:02 AM Wow, you two sound just like me. I clear places to store stuff, but get lazy and put clutter on those places before I get around to storing anything there and it all starts again. Before I moved, I had to get rid of a lot of my books. That really hurt, especially my cookbook collection. I spent a lot of time online, checking which recipes were online so the sting was not as great as it could be. I also gave my son a lot of my books so it wasn't like losing them. 10561. arkymalarky - 7/27/2004 8:08:06 AM My problem is stuff I use regularly that really needs easy accessibility. While I was working on trying to preserve rural schools the last year or so I had stuff thrown everywhere and was frantically working on it every spare minute. Now I still need to work on it and we're in the middle of several major projects, but I don't want it strewn everywhere. In fact, it's the source of 90% of what I'm trying to deal with. Everything else pretty much has a place but desperately needs going through and culled and reorganized--something I usually do in the summer but didn't the last two summers.
It's really amazing what two summers can do to put things in a mess.
I've got a major storage area for books, but I need to go through them. I'm not very sentimental about mine any more. I want those suckers gone. My dad has such a collection, though, I have access to whatever I want to read. I've only been interested in non-fiction and research stuff since before all the consolidation mess started. I guess because I taught lit for so long I get my jones for all that at work. 10562. arkymalarky - 7/27/2004 8:09:04 AM I'm not a neat person, btw, but I'm one who takes a mower to my stuff regularly and when I don't for a couple of years it really works on my attitude.
|
