BBC.......................Yes, it Involves Buna....

 Buna Back to Class........

Bunch of you thought something else.....I got to be more serious, or change my ways or something......

The old Govteach hated today. The Monday after Spring Break was the worst day of the school year. Teach high school seniors for 127 years, you know those bunch of 12th graders are coming back done, just done. 

Seniorities is real. Seniorteacherites is also real. I had a bad case a couple of years. I literally almost called Teacher Retirement System of Texas( TRS) in April and told them, " I am done....." Literally almost went to the office cussed out some folks along the long stroll, walked out the door and left everything....  

I was in a meeting with a teacher a few years earlier than the year I retired when he received a phone call on his cellular device and he remarked....." I got to take this." He steps into the hall and a few minutes later he steps  back in the meeting and says. " That was teacher retirement, they told me I could retire. " 

He leaves, gets in his car and goes home. Even leaves his sandwich/chips he had planned to eat for lunch in his desk./  

 This was shortly after we came back from Spring Break..........I understood. 

Morale at the Buna Schools ain't that good. Not just because we are in the " Home stretch" of the school year, and the kids are done, never mind there are state exams coming....

Many are looking for an " Out." be it quit teaching/education altogether. Some are looking hard at new school districts, and in this day and age of most people not wanting to put up with the nightmare that is teaching in 2026, they should be fairly easily be able to find another position.  

And afterward, the next few weeks, many will seriously start to say to themselves, " Man, I cannot do this anymore."  

Already, a professional within the district cleaned out their office over the weekend, and left a note literally saying...." I'm Done."  

And this will not be the only one who leaves the Buna District. They see no hope and well, who can blame them if they can find a better position, especially one that pays better?

There are long term employees who are trying to make it one more year, two more years so they can cash in that pension from TRS but they look at another year, another two and say to themselves, are telling others, they " May not make it."

 Things are that bad. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Yes, I Know, I Know, But Not ALL of Buna Knows....

 No, not the swingers of South Jasper County.....( By the way, I heard of a couple that were involved in swapping wives and I am not going to lie, even jaded me was somewhat shocked at who they were....Apparently SHE is both poly and bi.....And suggested swinging at first with another couple, and well, it gets out of control is what I was told.....) ( You know, sometimes, there are things I would be better off not knowing.)

I am telling you, I could put up a paywall on a site and name it...." Nekkid in Gist" " Slippin' Through the Slough" " Sneaking Down 1004" " Cougar Country Confidential" and make a damn killing.  

Just when you think everyone knows about the blog, well, you get new readers. 

And one had the nerve, the damn nerve to write me all upset about the blog and said, " It's not worth the price of admission." 

Well, heck, I don't charge you nothing now....What do you expect?  

At one time I had a Pay Pal app on the blog, but even it was removed.  

Look, people were upset yesterday because I told them things and well, it scared a couple of them, and the thing is, I did not talk about what the bad part of the future MAY bring.....

And the thing is, most of us expect things to get pretty awful. 

The computer must be reading the blogs. It is playing the Pixies, and " I know it's Over" by The Smiths....Man, I may need to double up on my "Happy Pills" and " Gummies" just to make the morning....Now, someone will preach at me because I believe in " Better living through chemistry." ( New readers, I have a very eclectic music taste, so don't be shocked at what my computer picks for me to listen to. It might be a Wagnerian Opera tomorrow....)   

This is my blog. I write on whatever strikes my fancy. Yes, I often cover Buna Schools, yes, I may talk about local politics, but, I may do economics, or history, or theology, whatever I want to when I sit down at the keyboard, yes, even gossip.  

Again, welcome to newbies.

As  always, if you have something of interest concerning Jasper County, the school district, etc., let me know. There is a real chance I may write a blog concerning it./ 

As always, all information is kept anonymous.  I never reveal sources. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm Going to be an A$$hole This AM.......

 I write this as I listen to a Russian cover band out perform Blood Sweat and Tear's. " You Make Me So Very Happy."

But I digress. 

And the ole Govteach ain't very happy..... 

I got to quit looking at the economic charts. Get ready folks, it is about to get bad. 

Already they are talking about 4.2% inflation. If it is being announce at that number, how high is it in reality?  

We are in stagflation, don't care what you call it. High inflation, and no jobs, or wages not keeping up with inflation. 

In Germany diesel is already selling for about $8 a gallon......Austria, closer to $9.  

They are out of petrol, or gasoline in Australia.  And they do not know when they will receive fuel. 

They are rationing fuel in Southeast Asia, Philippines and Pakistan/India. 

In South Korea, you can only drive certain days of the week.  

I don't even want to think what the collapse of the Petrodollar is going to do to the US. Other countries with oil have been using the dollar to buy US securities, bonds to keep the American Government afloat.  

The price of oil may lead to lock-downs. Things like 4 day work weeks, more people working from home. The US Post Office is adding a fuel charge to packages that you ship.  Don't be shocked if at some point we go back to remote schools to save fuel. 

They are talking about food shortages, mainly due to a large amount of fertilizer product not being shipped out of the Persian Gulf.  Also, the cost to grow and transport will increase. And expect shortages. 

I speculated last night about where this might lead, and  I cannot seem to see anything good coming in economics in the next weeks, months, years.....I can even see UBI coming out of this situation.  Conspiracy and preppers are already saying that we need to be "Aware of forced energy lockdowns in America." " That COVID was just a practice run."

Going to say this, and take it for what it is worth....If there is something you want, or really need, you might want to get it now..... 

And to quote an old Chinese saying....

" May you live in interesting times." 

Man, I did not want it this interesting.... If you are a praying sort of person, you may want to start praying extra hard.

And BTW, I didn't go total "Debbie Downer"( And my Deborah is not a downer, many of you know her) in this blog. I've been looking at economic charts and models and well, I am sort of holding back in this blog, it ain't looking good for any economy.  

 

 

This Week in Buna Schools.....

 It is Spring Break in Buna ISD....I don't know, this week long break, well, I just did not really get all excited about. Yes, I was happy to be out of school, yes, I generally took a small road trip, but Spring Break was always like, " Why are we stopping going to school now? If we just kept going, we could be out of school sometime in the middle of May for Summer. 

Spring semesters always were horrible to me. Always something going on, damn UIL Academics, the damn prom, the damn state exams, the damn graduation ceremony.  Something going on in which there is the possibility of someone knowing better and screwing up, and it come back on the Govteach.. 

I am still amazed at the number of people who have ties to Buna that are doing everything they can to get their children out of Buna ISD.  We are often talking about people whose families have been in the Buna community for decades, literally generations. Heck, even school board member's kids are moving their kids out, mostly to Evadale.  Who knew Evadale ISD would be so attractive? 

Then, I've been asked about why there appears to be two new administrators at the elementary school for calendar year 26-27.  Including one supposedly becoming a literary specialist within the district. ( Hell, I need me one of those jobs, make me an English Literature specialist.....I'll stand in the hall and quote  Shakespeare, Tennyson, , the Bronte Sisters,  Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, by memory. In truth, if I am at school, I want to be in the classroom, with kids, it is why I went into the business. )

We also have people who are looking at new churches, or just stop attending services altogether. The ties between the school and church has just turned them off. Plus, there are people who have stopped going because of the tithe. 

I know in the past of high school teachers who stopped going to Buna churches for several reasons, including politics, and the fact some parents wanting to hold " parent conferences" with their kid's teachers either before, or during, or after Sunday School, or even in the parking lot after church.  I know that some of the teachers literally left the county to attend church either in Silsbee or down towards Little Cypress.Many just stopped going altogether.  

Okay, I hope I made at least one reader happy with this style of writing. They hate when I just write one sentence and then write one more in a what they call paragraphs. And this person ain't an English teacher.....The trouble is, when I write paragraph, I start looking for where I can put a footnote. History graduate and theological graduate schools make you want to be all academic sometimes. ....I probably will go back to my old style in the next blog.... 

 

 

Ain't Going to Lie, It was the First Thing I Thought

 I know I should not be surprised. 

And I have lived in this part of the world, the majority of my life. 

But when Valero in Port Arthur had an explosion, the first thing I thought was terrorists, and in truth, would they even tell us if it was? 

Unless the politicians had ulterior reasons to do so.... 

But, we must remember, they are "cooking" petroleum products at these plants and well, sometimes, they for whatever reason, "blow-up."  

Again, I have lived down here and know this thing happens, and the plant jobs, well, as I have said in the past, they are dangerous.  

I have to be careful sometimes when talking about politicians, my brother is one...I've worked in his campaigns. 

But, the ole Govteach  ain't a politician. Just like he isn't a full time preacher. He is hoping for a technically to keep out of Hell now. 

I am like William Tecumseh Sherman concerning politics. 

" If nominated, I shall not run......If elected, I shall not serve."  

I Know Buna, I Owe You a Blog, But.......

 I keep watching the damn war. 

And I need to write on the fact that Buna Elementary is looking for two administrators. Both Principal and Asst. Principal.  

- Bombing Iran's nuclear plant, so they Iran shoots missiles at Israel's.

- The US President threatens to shut down all the electrical plants in Iran if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened up, and you know, Iran will start shooting missiles at Israeli power plants, and those in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, etc..... Or water desalination plants, which most depend on for drinking water in the Middle East. 

- Meanwhile we have a US Marine Expeditionary Force sailing towards " Harms Way."  Perhaps, what the plans are for these Marines worries me more than anything. I know the 82nd Airborne out of Ft. Bragg will probably be involved, but we can't really know where they are, whereas the Marines set sail from Japan on xyz date,  which means they will be in the Middle East sometime in the coming week. 

Both the Marines and 82nd have been in my prayers this morning....

-Then, there are people talking about this spinning into WW3.  

We may be already there. Ukraine and Russia are at war, most Gulf States , Iran, Israel are involved, the who knows how much armament the US Air Force has dropped on the Persians. 

- Then, it was discovered that Iran can now strike Europe, including London, England with long range missiles.  And it was the major talk on British newspapers because, the British do not have air defenses to knock down missiles. 

The US and every other country did not find out the distance Iran's missiles can travel, until yesterday when the Iranians shot missiles at Diego Garcia, a British Island base used by America in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  

To prove we are going to Hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200,  a British newspaper's headline was what Bonnie Blue would do during WW3.......And if you do not know who she is, good for you....

Debbie and Kerry are re-thinking a trip to Scotland..... 

- Then, there is the report that unknown drones were flying over Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport. 

Barksdale of course is home of a fleet of B-52 nuclear bombers./ ( Don't think there are not sleeper cells here in the US.)

- I need to write on the economics that are part of this............Especially the agricultural fertilizer and fewer crops, high prices/inflation effect.  

 

 

 

 

Even More Mail From Buna ISD Patrons......Some Families Are Fighting Over it....

 Then again, there were families shooting at one another during the American Civil War....Why would today be any different?

 - Again, I am shocked at the numbers of people who are upset with the Buna ISD. 

All pretty much saying the same thing in a way I will paraphrase....

" What has happened to our district?"  

As a long time teacher and Buna graduate told me......" I like the district I am teaching in right now......Why would I move to be disrespected? And I have heard from people asking about me moving....I literally would have to be nuts to move to Buna right now." ( They have a much needed (a couple of three  )  Texas Teacher's Certificates that are much sought after. They can apply in pretty much any district and get hired. )

- And I keep hearing the same theme from parents......

" Bullying" 

And this concerns me. 

Let's face it, I was rough on y'all as I have said in previous publications.....But I have tried to be " Equally rough on everyone....I wanted Buna kids to be the best person in the college classroom, or on that job site." 

I don't know if you have noticed, but I check on y'all fairly often.....And while some of you have had missteps, which is to be expected, most of you who have fouled up, have got, up, brushed yourselves off, found work, and are trying to become meaningful  members of society. And I am damn proud of you. 

But, in the tradition of the blog, I digress. 

This bullying is something else. 

It is like there is one treatment for one set of kids, and another for another group......And it is oblivious.... 

And like I have said, if you can, homeschool.....Get your kid into another district,  I don't know. I keep hearing rumblings of parents consulting legal counsel,  but nothing solid yet. So many parents are afraid of ramifications coming back on their children. 

Then, there are some who keep saying " If XYZ can just graduate..." 

Trouble is, that doesn't help the next group of kids coming through.... 

There is also the inevitable time in which I will stop writing this publication. I'll get up and say...." Not today Satan.....Never again, God is pointing me in another direction.And that day is closer than even I know....."    

But for now, you need to just vent, send me your troubles, especially concerning the ISD.  I will keep it in my prayers, in my thought, possibly more than you know.  There are times I lie in bed at night and can't sleep worrying about the school district.