5 Worst Cities I Have Visited.....And 5 Best....

 Okay, I am bored. Had a cat in my lap for about 90 minutes, he's now in a chair sitting by me asleep.....I have lost my damn mind....After having dogs literally all my life, I have an orange cat I am quite fond of....

Worse Cities I have Visited......

5. New Orleans- At one time I enjoyed visiting New Orleans. But the French Quarter I find boring and I have no want or need to " Party" at this stage in my life. The food is good, but there is better Cajun food in restaurants west of New Orleans in the Cajun Country. New Orleans is a place that holds no excitement for me.....

4. Brussels, Belgium- Might be the worst capital city in Europe. Food is okay. Lots of pickpockets and bums asking for hand outs, especially in the train station. The tourist attractions are over rated.  The piss boy statue is not worth walking a mile to see it. 

3. San Francisco- It might be #1, but our hotel was across the highway from SFO Airport and I can watch planes all day. The city itself is well, just another city. Too expensive, the town has a lot of toursits, it also has a large number of addicts roaming the street just pissing and crapping wherever they want to. I did not have a decent meal while there. 

2. Tel Aviv, Israel- I certainly would not want to be there today. The Iranians are blowing the hell out of the place. If God is good to me, I'll never have to go back to Israel. Bad food, they really did not want tourists there. Yes, they wanted our dollars, but not us.  Going through the airport was a nightmare. Just another big city. 

1. London- Massive city. Yes, Mr. Thomas is still an Anglophile. Yes, I loved the museums, the palace, seeing the parliament, Whitehall, the War Museum, etc.....But VERY Expensive and yes, I can navigate the tube( subway) all day. But just an enormous city. Just too damn busy. I know Cousin Andy who now holds a British Passport would disagree, as he LOVES London, but unless we need to pick him up for a trip, I will pass. 

 Honorable Mention Bad Cities-

Jerusalem.....Manchester, England........Torquey, England.......Miami....Boston...Dublin, Ireland....

 Best Cities I have visited....

 5. Seattle- Yes, my kids live there, but it would have made the top 5 before they moved. Yes it is liberal, yes it is expensive, but I like the Pacific Northwest. Not everyone does, but I enjoy the fish dinners from that region. I like the town, heck, I even enjoyed talking to the bums downtown. We considered moving to the area outside of Seattle about 40 years ago, but the Washington State Teacher's certification was a nightmare at the time. But we have now been to Seattle 5 times that is how much we like the city. 

4. Hong Kong- Amazing city. A true wonderment. Still has a big British influence, like driving on the left of the roadways. Amazing Chinese food( go figure). One of those cities if you asked me to go to this afternoon, I'd go. 

3. Quebec City, Quebec, Canada- We stayed in an Air B&B literally on the " Plains of Abraham." Possibly the most European city in North America. Yes, no one speaks English, but you learn to make do and use apps.  I enjoyed just walking around the city. 

2. Edinburgh, Scotland- What can I say, we are wanting to go back next to Scotland. The " Happiest Place on Earth" isn't Disney World, it is Scotland.  Massive castle in the middle of the city, on a hill, you look for the castle if you get lost. It will get you back where you need to be. The most haunted cemetery on earth, Greyfriars, great pubs, I enjoyed the food. It is the first place I tried haggis, boudin's Scottish cousin. We plan to travel there our next overseas trip. 

1. York, England.....Come on, it is what an English city should look like. A Medieval section called " The Shambles" A massive Medieval Anglican Cathedral we stayed in hotel across the street from. We did Evensong ( Evening prayer) while we were there. I know I still hold a History Certificate in the state of Texas, but I literally " Geeked Out" there/ Especially when we found out we were about 50 feet from Guy Fawkes birthplace.  Also found a " Local" full of people from York, and they turned me onto, an Italian beer. ( Yes, Italian)....If you go to England, you must visit York....

 Honorable Mention

Washington DC( Yes, the " Belly of the Beast" but its is full of history), Montreal... St. John, New Brunswick... Nuremberg, Germany... Cork, Ireland... Kunming, China.....

What city will you never visit again?

What city do you want to re-visit?  

Thursday's Thoughts......And Future Buna ISD Blogs....

 Because in many ways I am still stuck in the 1970s....I am listening to what I listened to when I was still in school....Led Zeppelin.....It makes writing well, a lot easier.....

3 weeks of war? If we are lucky. I can see us in the Persian Gulf for years. This is so similar to Vietnam. Trouble is, Iran in 3 times bigger than Vietnam and in the war in Southeast Asia, the US ground forces were only in half of the country.  Iran is mostly all mountains and desert. A population of 92 million. 

I am scared to death we are going to put ground forces on some of the islands, or in a port in Iran. 

War is different than Vietnam or any other war, see the the Russian-Ukraine conflict. Watch the drone warfare. It is a game changer in its use against infantry.  

Man, the Vietnam conflict is still remembered by many of us.....

Then, sort of pay attention. I still think there will be terrorist attack here in the states directly related  to Iran. If it does not look right, I would not hang around. 

-Oracle laid off 30,000 people yesterday. Sent them an email at 6am and told them their services were no longer needed.  

I am telling you, there will be more lay-offs in this country. 

- Already people are starting to re-think vacations. I know some people were were about to travel to Europe this Summer and have decided that well, we might need to go another time.  Part of it was they had planned to rent a car and the thought of paying around $9-10 a gallon for gas was one of the things that changed their mind, plus the thought of airfare which has gone up by a quarter to a third in recent days, and how will they treat Americans as this economic crisis gets worse? 

I know Debbie and Kerry are still looking at Scotland for Fall, but nothing is set in stone and we can dress, act like we are supposed to be there. Of course our East Texas accent gives us away, so we try and say as little as we can in public. ( That said, we were in Dundee, Scotland and I got a yelling at a street preacher for misquoting the Bible.  I got some chuckles from the Scots.)( In Germany, we knew we had fit in when at first they spoke to us in German and thought we were such....)

The way things are looking we may go to South Padre, or Hill Country, the Smoky Mountains, or the Farm and call it good for this year.  

- Today is Maundy  Thursday. It commemorates the Lord's Supper/Communion... marking the institution of the Eucharist and the washing of feet. "Maundy" originates from the Latin mandatum (commandment), reflecting Jesus' command to love and serve others. It is characterized by communion services, foot-washing ceremonies, and the stripping of altars.( Wrote a paper on this in seminary concerning Medieval/Reformation England....It was during this time I realized I was no longer Baptist.)( I know many of you in Evangelical churches do not know this day, but traditionally it was a big day during Holy Week.)

- I really need to write about Buna ISD....But you know, at this point I am so damn disgusted with leadership, be it  admin or the politicians, if I think about it much, I will puke on my keyboard....Will write next week....

We may throw caution to the wind and go off next week. Or not......I do not think the average  patron in the district realizes what they have on their hands? And I seriously wonder/worry about the STAAR  Exams will come out? Is Buna getting  a takeover? If it is, can you imagine who they'd put on the Board of Governors? Maybe I should get my brother top pull some strings, he does know Abbott a little....No, there is not enough Bushmill's Irish Whiskey to get me to get me " Likkered Up" to do the job.....In truth, I hope the kids, for their sake, do well on the tests. 

- I am going to take several days off for Easter. I doubt I write the next 3 days.

Have a good Easter. If you can, see your folks. Tell them you love them. You really do not know what our future holds for us.  

 

Evadale, Buna, Two School Districts.....

 “We'll start to forget a place once we left it” 

― Charles Dickens," A Tale of Two Cities" 

First, before I start the blog, I was told that members of the Evadale ISD faculty/staff, are reading " The Govteach Part Deaux." I thank you for reading.  If there is something in Evadale, that I need to research and write on, let me know, but to be honest, I get a lot of positivity from the school district, and I know everyplace isn't all " Peaches and Cream."  

I taught in districts before I spent most of my career at Buna High School, Dayton ISD and Magnolia ISD. 

I loved my time at Dayton ISD.......I hated Magnolia ISD.....

Not all district are the same, and most of you know this.....We looked hard at real estate between Beaumont in Dayton, Nome, Devers, etc, but in the early 1990s, finding a house for sale in that area was difficult if not impossible. It's more of that foreordination belief of mine that I was supposed to wind up in Buna, hell, this blog would have never existed....

I am just amazed at the number of people who want to get their kids out of the Buna Independent School District. 

In the last 24 hours, I have heard from several either former students I had at Buna, or people who have their kids in the Buna Schools who want their kids out.  It was like they all at once decided " Enough is enough." 

And the majority of them are looking at Evadale ISD for their kiddos.  

And as I have said in the past, I would put my kid in Orangefield, Bridge City, LCM in that order. And my child went to LCM, partly because it offered classes that a 2A or 3A district just can't afford to offer like he wanted to take French. ( If we knew what we knew today, we would have found a school that taught Mandarin Chinese...Especially after he lived in China for 5 years....) Hell, LCM had a 40 piece jazz band at that time he played trombone is....Buna's total band is about 40.....

I know many of you reading are just wondering as I was asked by a former student who called me in tears concerning their child who is attending Buna......." Mr. Thomas, what has happened to Buna Schools???"

And there are more people than you know asking that question......And many who tell me that for whatever reason cannot move their children out of the Buna District.  They are mostly afraid letting people know their true feelings. They are literally scared to death of retribution against their kids. 

It shouldn't be that way. 

I know this isn't everyone  unhappy with Buna ISD, but it is more people than even I realized.  

No, so far, everyone who has moved their kids to Evadale ISD  has been thrilled. 

I don't know, already Buna High has the smallest population of any school in the 3A football district. Buna is stagnant. Yeah, you're getting a " Waffle House" but is that the cultural defining moment?  

I don't know, perhaps it now signals the pinnacle of civilization in 2026? 

 

 

 

And You Hear Things Out of Buna....I Answer Requests...And Other Rants.....

Listening to the soundtrack from the movie " Dazed and Confused" set in 1976 a year after the ole Govteach graduated from HS, the music was pretty much what we listen to. That said, by 76-77, I had switched to more " Cosmic Cowboy" music, was wearing Hawaiian shirts and cowboy boots, a softball sized dip of Copenhagen....A heck of a look for a history major......BTW time I met my wife, my look had changed to a little more " Preppy." 

First, I want to thank you for reading the blog. 

I checked the numbers and was shocked at how many people read this publication.  Literally it makes you wonder sometimes if I am doing right or not, and then, I get messages from folks and well, I am hitting the bullseye for them and it makes you keep going.

We heard from teachers concerning the last blog. They are not happy. Many want out, and some wonder if they move, with today's geopolitical/geoeconomic situation, what kind of drive they would have and what kind of  money would they have to pay for gasoline? ( I am telling you, you Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Subaru Legacy/Impreza drivers are going to happy with your vehicle. )  

Some of the teachers I've heard from were even wondering as I eluded to yesterday are concerned it is no better at Lumberton or PNG, or LCM......"Do I even want to stay teaching?"  

 - Secondly, I have been approached by a couple of people concerning the stock market and investments to store their retirement, liquidity. 

I probably can pick you a list of stocks I would consider, but you know, right now, I probably would pick a bunch of losers and  because of that, wouldn't dream of telling you a suggestion.  Especially with the economic situation that is coming. 

And besides, if I pick you a couple of stinker investments, how mad are you going to be at me?  ( The only investments for sure might be bags of dry beans, flour, sugar, cornmeal....)

I was asked by someone if they should get cash and silver and bury it in a mayonnaise jar under the house? And the thought of that has crossed my mind.... 

Please don't ask me for financial advise. I am not a CFA, I look at economics, and it is mostly study of the finances of the whole....

-  Finally, prepare yourself mentally. Hope for the best, get ready for the worst. 

The economics looks bad, really bad. The hard times are not here as of yet. I figure by May people will really start to react. 

Be glad what you have, yes, it might not be the same as it was in the past, but you could be in a nation that is much worse off than the one you are living in. 

I may write more concerning economics over the  next few, well, months, years, however long this mess lasts. 

( Came close to a sermon on here this morning using the Book of Lamentations as my source....But I spared you...That theological school training sometimes tries to come out.....)

 

 

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.