Okay, What Did the Pilgrims Eat , the First Thanksgiving?

 I have been to both where the pilgrims landed and where they left in Plymouth, England. 

Plymouth, England, well, I know my people on my mom's side are from Devon-shire, and because Plymouth is the major port in that part of the world, I am assuming, they left from there. 

I was not impressed. Plymouth was not a wonderful place. Lots of impoverished parts of the city, and there is a part that is a navy base, and another part devoted to the university. 

Devon itself, well, I understand why they left and came to the "New World." Deb and I will not visit again, and Cornwall, where some of my wife's people are from, which is the county next to Devon, well, Cornwall has some rich sections and some really trashy parts, especially near the sea. 

So, did the Pilgrims eat turkey at the First Thanksgiving? 

Maybe, but probably not.....

They probably had duck or goose rather than turkey. 

Turkey is fairly recent addition to both Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, in England, turkey has been added to meals, larger, and more accepted by the younger folks in the family and easier to fix and in the long run cheaper for pubs and restaurants offer. 

Eating geese has fallen out of favor in both America and England. 

So, let's talk about the veggies they probably had.....

Onions, cabbage, carrots, dried beans....Generally Fall type veggies. Corn was served, but not as you might expect. 

Corn wasn't on the cob, or cut off the cob and served, it was generally turned into cornmeal, pounded and turned into a type of mush or porridge they often put honey or molasses into the mush to make it sweet. 

Then, there were pumpkins served, generally cooked and served in a mashed form, again, sweetened with honey or molasses. It is what they had. 

The thing that is obvious, and you might have at your feast, deer, venison was easy to obtain, and why not not kill a deer and serve it. 

Squirrel, rabbit.......Any type of wild game you could think of would be offered. 

There was fish especially cod offered. Mussels, clams, oysters......and lobster. There was so much lobster on the Northeast coast that it was fed to prisoners all 3 meals a day. Breakfast, lunch, supper. It was cheap and considered food for the lowest classes. The Indians are showing up, and the Pilgrims did not consider them upper class. We'll given them those lobsters. 

Dessert? Sort sort of custard. Pudding, there was no flour to make a pie crust as we would understand, but desserts were a pudding, sweetened mostly with honey.

But would we recognized the First Thanksgiving as we would know? 

Not really. 

Vidor ISD Police Officer Arrested for Kidnapping 12 Year Old

 I've been sitting on this story for a while, but a Vidor ISD cop( Now ex-cop) has been arrested for kidnapping a 12 year old. 

Come on man, come on.....

It makes you wonder if having a school district police force is worth it or not.....

This guy carried the girl across state lines to Lake Charles. 

Makes you wonder? Did the guy use his position as a Vidor ISD police officer to kidnap the girl? 

This guy was a cop? Did he not know this was going to end badly? Did he not know better? 

Your kids are not even safe with the cops......Sounds like Vidor ISD may need to fire some folks....

Kidnap kids, former cop? I wonder how long he'll last in prison?

Here is the story from KFDM Channel 6. 

The story on KBMT

Not Sure I'll Blog Again This Week, and I am Behind.......

 So maybe a "Black Friday" special.

Got a doctor's appt. this morning, and afterward, who knows....

I know we are having "prime rib" for Thanksgiving, and I am my Father's son, I like me dead cow on a plate. 

And then, Reid and April are in Japan, and that's not a shocker. We are looking hard at Central Europe for the ole Govteach and Debbie in 2025. At least before the Russians invade. 

We've not had a normal holiday season in 25 years, and to be honest, I embrace the chaos now. 

If I was young again, I would have found a way to teach in the UK, at least for a few years, but alas, I was foreordained to teach in South Jasper County most of my professional career, and in truth, I wouldn't have been anyplace else, hell, come on, who else would you have wanted to have had as your 12th grade gov/eco teach?

And as I have told everyone, I loved the hell out of being with y'all. 

As always if you got Buna ISD, Buna community info, Jasper County info send it my way, there's a serious chance I will blog on it....

Have a good holiday folks......We only get so many......

I'm Probably Going to Hell for Griping on a Sunday

 So, I know you're not me getting one for Christmas, and at this point, I no longer want one...

As a kid, and a younger person, I wanted  Jaguar car. 

The old XKE. British Racing Green, ragtop, run like a kicked dog....Then in the 70s, we had the v-12. 

Then I switched to wanting a Land Rover Defender, in Bronze Green.....Throw a dirty dog in the seat, a double barrel shotgun, a couple of kids you want to learn to shoot.....And it was like that in rural England, with a couple of lambs behind the second seat.....Cooler than cool....

But with their latest commercial.......WT Cornbread F are you selling Jaguar? The latest ad  for what was a sports car company. What was that?.....And then you are going to all EV? How many cars do you plan to sell in America? None? 

I see a bankrupt Jaguar.

Buna ISD Poops the Bed...Again

 Please excuse mistakes. I am writing this under the influence of muscle relaxers and pain meds. 

So, it looks like the Buna Schools will return to a five day week, the first 2025. ( January)

It seems there was not enough research done on Career and Technology Education and what a 4.5 day week would do to those programs. 

Two groups people are to be blamed. 

1. The former Supt. Of Schools and her advisors. The Superintendent didn't do their research. 

2. The Buna School Board of Trustees. Yes, the school board. You're not a rubber stamp politician. You take the position, you must do your own research. Just don't trust folks. 

CTE is a growing part of public schools. Not everyone is going to college. We need welders, auto techs, CNAs, etc. 

Heck two of the best teachers you have are CTE instructors. One of which I knew was going be special when the district hired him the first year. 

Also, I was amazed at the work the CNAs did at Texas Orthopedic. We're working as hard if not harder than the RNs. ( RNs, God bless them, had tons of paperwork) 

It seems the Buna Schools were not meeting the requirements of daily hours needed each day for CTE classes to meet. 

Thus, Buna needing to return to a 5 day week. ( One of my favorite students of all times sent me the video. I could not figure what was wrong with the seniors boys. She was IMO he cutest girl in her class, and she's now a CTE teacher.)

Now, I know there are mixed emotions in the Friday half day. 

I know some people love their kids getting out early. Others are left scrambling to find someone to watch their children, because, most folks have jobs, they work Fridays. 

Now I would not mind.. Even with extended days M-Th, Friday would be a day I'd need to try and start a new lesson, in a short period of time. Let's either go all day, or go 4 days, if that can be done for 25-26 School Year. 

And I know there are people dead set against 4 day weeks. Trouble is, more schools are going to look at 4 day weeks as an incentive to get and keep faculty. And I hate to tell 5 day week people, it's hard to get teachers now. Why work at a district that pays less, and has a longer work week? It's simple economics. 

Okay, I am going back to my health sabbatical.  

Dammit to Hell Lamar Jean

 The boys I associated with in university used to say this when we were upset...." Dammit to Hell Lamar Jean!" 

My kids are moving to Seattle. 

Yes, Washington State. Yes, happy for them, but it's a long damn ways to Seattle...and I ain't moving there, and Seattle might be my favorite American city. 

So, bitter-sweet here at the Compound today. 

Seriously, This is Might Be My Last Blog.....Or I am Taking a Long Sabbatical

 This day was coming. 

I am not well. I've had back trouble since 1986. This is the worst I have had since my back issues started. I can't stand, walk, sit. I literally have to be prone on the couch or the bed to be comfortable. 

I am taking various pills and potions in an attempt to ease my pain just a little. I am taking many in an attempt just get a little sleep. 

I'm in a state of depression waiting for a surgery that, let's face it, might or might not work. The doctor seems to think so, but when he looks at the MRI scan and exclaims, " Oh Wow!."  when we we on Teledoc with him......And of course as a surgeon he is going to want to do surgery, it's his job, and how he makes money. 

My wanting to step away from blogging could be the combo of the pain, and the medications. 

Let's talk a little about the election-The National One-

- Let's face it, I saw the results coming a mile away

1. Economics: I do not care what anyone says, the average person is hurting financially, and here in SE Texas, we are a little better off than the rest of America. Housing is cheaper, it just is, no one wants to live here. They never have. Even if you get a job at Exxon, or Valero, a lost of people still hate it out there. And a lot of people do anything to get the hell out of this region. And don't say, " Well, I like it here." Yeah, I understand the sentiment. But the average person in America, heck Texas is saying, " I want to move to Beaumont. To the heat and humidity, to the uneducated( The counties in this area have fewer college grads than most of this state, Newton, Jasper, Orange, are at the bottom of Texas.( And we have a university nearby0 I'm sorry they just are. I was getting blood drawn the other day and people were in there talking about Asians, and how backward they are....I've been to one of the 4th rate cities in China. Spent a month there. The roads were better than anything in Texas, I counted 40 skyscraper cranes building new skyscrapers, They had Rolls-Royce Dealers, 3 Land Rover Dealers,  the Chinese were at the time keeping General Motors in business. The town was more modern than anything in America, or England and was running better than anything we had or the Europeans. The floors at the airport in the 4th rate city as they called it, was so clean, you could eat off the floor. Now not all of China is like this, there are parts that are rough, very rough, but in the middle of a city of 10 million, that literally see no Westerners, I was shocked.) The heat, the humidity, and while we are used to the average person who lives here, and they are " our people" it is somewhat a culture shock for people not from SE Texas. It really is.

Unless you were born here, and your family is here, many of you are looking to get out of this area. Move to Dallas, Austin, heck, other Southern cities and regions. 

I digress, and probably will several times in this blog.

The average person in America is living paycheck to paycheck. Groceries are sky high, rent is way up and god-forbid you try and buy a house, both the price of a home and interest-rates shoot the houses up so much people are not able to afford a home, then there are those investment firms buying up all the homes. the average family being able to buy a home of any type is way out of their ability to buy one. 

All of the inflation, the interest rates went up while the Democrats were in office. They're in charge, they get the blame, it's just the way it is. 

And the economy isn't any better. Look at the price of pick-up trucks, and heck GM, Dodge, Chevy really don't have starter vehicles like they did in the past. And if they do, they're pretty crappy. And many of those have so much added stuff, they are just expensive.  Sorry if you sell these vehicles, you just don't have starters.  It's why people are buying Toyota's, Honda's, Subaru's, Hyundai's...and even there, people can't afford many of those anymore. 

2. Gen Z Males: Yep, we are hitting a nerve here. 

I do not know what men have done in this world. I really do not. Females had rather be lost in the woods with a bear than a man? 

I often see hatred of men on Facebook by women on here. I don't know what these guys have done to you, but most guys are not terrible trashy thugs. I keep seeing that they "don't want guys to have access to their bodies." I thought that was why you get married, so you can have sex. And to be honest, most women want the man to initiate sex, and if you don't want to have sex, why'd you get married? ( There's still some of us ( males) who waited until marriage. )

I've never raped anyone. I've never sexually molested anyone. I asked before, and she does too. Maybe that's just us, but it works for us.

I've made sure I was not alone with any female in my life, even years ago, and if we went to the cuss porch, well, there were huge plate glass windows so anyone could see what was going on, and most of the time, time on the cuss porch was for me to talk to you about your grade( generally the ole Govteach was going to tell you that things are going to be okay. Not always, but 99% of the time it's you're going to pass the course...and sometimes, we just needed to talk, often about problems you were having, now males, I often charged you up and used choice language, but females, no.) I moved my podium to the corner of the room to avoid being flashed by girls in miniskirts. And not all girls worn knickers. I've been embarrassed more than once with a vagina looking sideways back at me. 

You may say Mr. Thomas, the Govteach is now either "Red Pill" or " Black Pill" now, and I know you may not believe it, but I think that is probably someone for everyone. 

Young men in many cases have just "given up." They have no serious job prospects. Many of them don't "know anyone" to help them get on at the plants. If I'd known someone back in the day, I would have loved to have gotten on at Texaco ( Motiva) or Gulf ( Chevron-Valero) etc. But I knew no one who could get me on, and I know it's changed since then, but not really. If anything it's worse today. College students are 60% females today and college grads are predominately female

Young men unless they are really handsome or really well off financially have a hard time finding a girlfriend, much less a wife, and we understand that girls need to be picky about who they date, but so many girls date guys who are sorry, sorry, crumb bums, and then gripe about they not being about to find a "good guy" and while there are good guys out there, so many in the single men have just given up. 80% of single men are no longer interested in dating. 

Young me are not really going to the GOP. They're going away from the Democrats. 

On the Democrats website, they talk about who they serve...Asians, Disabled,16 different groups which make up about 75% of the populous. In none of it did they talk about young men....Or men in general.

Men are why we have an opioid crisis. 3/4 of the addicts are men

Men make up the vast majority of the homeless. 3/4 are men.

Men are 80% of the suicides, and I've talked more people than I care to count, and got actual help, " off the ledge" and all were men. I know, I had someone get me off the ledge. The back situation for almost 40 years, well, sometimes you think, " enough it enough."

Men without the romantic prospects are doing video games, vaping, porn....and why get a job or try and improve if there is no hope of getting someone who loves them romantically. 

More single women own houses than men, and that's not a bad thing, it is not, but men see no hope in the future. Why try?  Average men now have no hope, oh there are "down to earth" girls who know they are not going to marry rich guys who are guys with Brad Pitt looks. But so many girls are looking for the unicorn, and well, you're not going to find him. 

Sorry. 

And I understand you want the perfect guy, but most of you won't find him, we all have flaws, Lord knows Deborah Darlene Britain Lindenmayer Thomas married a guy with them. And she loves him and her husband loves her. That love has kept me from the " enough is enough." Seriously. 

This year 75% of the admits to Harvard University were minorities. 

I have a nephew who has applied there, Yale, Northwestern, University of Chicago, Dartmouth, other big name schools. He will be valedictorian this May. He has knocked the top out of both the ACT and SAT tests. He has done all sorts of extra curricular, work in his community, Played sports he was no good at just to check a box. His done everything he could thing of extra. Worked with the poor in an urban setting. He is not going to get into any of these schools. He'll probably go to the University of Texas. And would get into Texas just because he will be in the top percentage of his HS class. . 

Young men are struggling, they are left behind, and young women are doing well. Ladies doing well is a good thing, young men, not so good. We need both doing well, or this thing is going to fall apart, and the Democratic Party is not seeing this. 

- A Woman Candidate

I always thought the first first female U.S. President would be a Republican. 

And I am going to get into bad trouble here. Going to get called sexist, a misogynist. 

I got fired from my real first teaching job. Oh, I was told to resign, or be fired. The principal was a woman. 

I am not sure what I did. I was, at the time, the only non-coach, non-vocational teacher male on campus. She for whatever reason hated me. Wrote me up for not wearing a tie. ( And there was no tie requirement.) She found 83 things wrong when I was observed/evaluated by her. I didn't know there were that many things you could find wrong. Now during that time she was going through a divorce and there was a bad custody problem going on during the divorce and all I could think of was I was an easy scapegoat to blame. 

Got the hell out of there and went to seminary. Good bad or otherwise, it got my mind and soul right, and I wound up at Dayton High, and taught the exact same way I did previously. 

They loved me at Dayton. I could still be there. I couldn't keep driving 60 miles one way, and we could not find a house that was a decent drive for both of us( Deb was working at Baptist Hosp.) to make, so I put in about 50 applications. Buna wasn't one. (You've heard the Buna story.)

But, things are foreordained. I wind up at Buna High School. I spend the majority of my career there. 

And it wasn't all peaches and cream with administration there. There was an administrator who made it her mission and told people, to " get rid of me." 

That was, until I had her children in class. I treated her kids like everyone else, and one of them, pick and teased with, well, guys do things that seem very mean to one another, and in truth, the harder we tease one another, the more it shows we like each other. She turned on a dime when her kids liked me, and went home and told government/history stories I had told in class. 

There were other females at Buna who hated me including a counselor who just despised me. And other teachers, female, and yes, I am different, I won't play politics with you, suck up to you, won't tell you how nice you look, and yes, I got into trouble for protecting seniors, ( Yeah you are welcome, ungrateful little snots....Many of you don't know how many of you I got out of trouble, and convinced someone to pass you so you would walk, behind the scenes I'm teasing you about being ungrateful. You don't know.) 

But I digress.

I know I am different. Always have been. I have a different view of stuff. I don't hold back on what I think. I think school should be about the kiddos. Others, well, they do not "get it."

So, some of us are still afraid of female leadership. Not just men, but women.  Never mind if I lived in Buna I would have voted for several females for school board. 

-The Buna Schools

I worry about the Buna Schools, I really do. You're in a downward spiral, you really are. I know people will get all upset saying I am a negative nabob, but i try and call it as i see it and generally most people agree with me. 

There are very few teachers at this point I would want to have my child in their class. Oh, the elementary has some good ones still, but get to secondary, well, you need to start hiring serious folks. And quit hiring " hometown folks" who want to keep their jobs. I literally went to school every day saying " This could be my last one here." 

But I had a serious job. And I looked at it that way. You don't want me to do what I am doing, let me go. I'd had so much bad stuff in the past, well, I'll find another teaching job. I had get seniors ready for college, for the real world. I could not be " Mr. Thomas" in today's school world and sorry, I might be rougher today than I was back in the 1990s. The world is not all sweetness and roses. And today's kids are being so overprotected. 

School Board, be careful who you pick as Supt. of Schools.  Grill the hell out of them in the interview process. They DO NOT have to have a Ph.D or an Ed.D. Don't just get one with one because it "looks good" and Evadale has, or Kirbyville's has a doctorate. 

Make sure they care about Buna, and that might be hard to do. Ask about new programs they plan to implement, and ask why? And if they know if they'll work? Or is this some sort of experiment?   Ask if they plan to stay and if they leave, give them absolute hell for doing so. I have more, but it's the board's job to grill the hell out of candidates. 

After this blog, you may want to unfriend me, and that's okay. It will be my last one, perhaps for a while, perhaps I am done. I am tired, I am in pain that I did not think was possible. I thought my ankle was going to explode earlier from the sciatic pain running down my back, leg to ankle. I am also on meds trying to get me through the day.  I've written this over several days as I can't sit very long. 

If you need me, many of you have my cell number. you want my number, ask me for it. Why not? I'll be on Facebook from time to time, but blogging, heck, make me a decent offer and I'll sell it to you. It's time for me to take time off. A sabbatical. The ole govteach is just not well right now.

Y'all Are a Bunch or Idiots.....Stopping Gossip on Me...

 So, yesterday, I talked about being on a "date" after my MRI in Beaumont, and questioned if I had to " put out" after she paid for my lunch.

Then, in another blog I talked about " I was talking to my first wife." 

And then I talked about me being with " Lily" for a certain period of time...

There are people convinced I have a mistress. I am having an affair. 

Others of you are smart enough, and know me that I often tease and "pick" ( as we say here in East Texas) pretty hard. And I know some of you who do not know me well, think I am serious.

I have had one wife. 

I have had sex with one person in my life. 

One. 

She's only been with one person. And want to be with someone who also was chaste.  Again, our meeting I am convinced was foreordained.

I had a longtime girlfriend in high school who broke up with me because she had found a new sweetie, and shortly after she broke up with me, literally within weeks, she was having sex with him. 

Yeah, it hurt. 

Badly.

But I soon realized how much better off I was. 

And I have told the story of my dating the girl from Orangefield. 

It made me stop dating for literally years. 

My wife is what Proverbs 10: 10-12 says....."A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds." "Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it." "Never spiteful, she treats him generously all her life long."

And the " Lily" is a nickname I have for her when we are playing and teasing.  

So folks, learn what's going on, I tell you when I am serious about stuff. Pay attention....Stop gossiping...

Okay Folks...Listen Up.....

 If you've not voted, today is the day to do so. 

I know in Buna, the voting precincts include the Methodist Church, The Whitehead Building, and down in Gist, New Cherry Grove Church. 

Let me remind you it may be early, or very late before the election is called. We may not know for several days. 

Keep calm. We'll eventually know. Life goes on. 

Even though we think our national candidate will improve our lot in life, in reality, not much really changes. It really doesn't. Oh a few things positive and negative may occur, but life goes on. And remember most national politicians could care less about you personally. It's local ones and state ones who know you and will influence your daily life. State laws, local laws always effect you first. 

Be sure and vote in the Buna School Board election. Four seats are on the ballot this term. There are ten folks running, and I know most of the people running. Vote for those you think will actually help the district. Remember, Buna ISD is going to have a new Supt. Of Schools. 

Again, if you've not done so, get out and vote. I know 77,000,000 Americans have early voted. So in truth, the polls today might have shorter lines than they were during early election.

Vote folks. 

( Please, when it is called, someone let me know the result of the Buna ISD School Board of Trustees election. Here in Orange County, I don't always hear the results.....And I have great interest in this year;s board election....Thank you.)

Anarchy....At Buna High?

 So, more than one person has written me concerned about anarchy, chaos at at the Buna High School. 

That as one wrote me, " No one is in control." 

Now of course people will write and say that " Everything is okay."  And that " Why don't we just focus on the positive."

I remember the late US Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew used to complain about the "nattering nabobs of negativism." Never mind the US was having riots, a war in Vietnam, inflation, a massive gasoline shortage....

Yeah, let's sweep the bad stuff under the rug......SMH....

One person wrote me and said the following concerning vaping.....

They said. " The administration has spent a ton on vape detectors but the kids simply destroy them. They are equipped with alerts for this purpose but most of leadership is female so no one even checks the restrooms. My understanding vaping is the least of offenses however in those rooms."

Look, discipline at school often revolves around either a strong  administration, or some strong teachers....Like an asshole Senior Government/Economics teacher who wasn't afraid at yelling and trying to keep the Senior Class under control. 

I could also see a government teacher making fun of guys vaping...." What's wrong, too much of a sissy( insert another word) to use real tobacco?"

Then, there are " Crime Stoppers" posters on the walls of the schools, asking to turn in other students for various offenses.  

Mn, I can see that getting out of control....Anonymous, I can see people getting turned in for possible cash reward.....Or turning in people or setting up people, they do not like. High School is often like a soap opera. 

As someone told me " You can now plant a vape, turn a person in, get cash." 

And if you are investigated and even if nothing is found, everyone knows, and that kid will have that stain on them the rest of their time in High School, and often, the kid may have to leave to another school, the family may need to leave town, just because someone said they " Did Something." 

I have for a while been in the "school" of people not sending their kids to Buna ISD....It's a mess right now. 

I been saying this, the patrons of the district need to " clean house" and try something new. 

 

Nekkid in Gist....Slippin' Down the Slough.....More Gossip.....

 So, I was informed that the Holiday Inn on Walden Road was a fancy hotel to have an affair, that said, maybe I've looked at hotels so much I found a deal to get a room there for less than $100.....Come on, show some class when you are "running around." Stop going to the " Bedbug Inn."

So, the latest story I have been told and it came from 3 different sources that a married lady was sending bikini photos to an ex-boyfriend. 

Not one, but several in what is termed today as a " Bikini Haul." 

When they were "caught" her excuse was that " He is so good about helping out with color coordination."

And did these pictures over a week's time. 

And apparently, this Bunaitie lady was in a string bikini is a couple of photos.....

I'm sure the ex was disappointed.( Sarcasm)...( You know the ex-boyfriend was thinking " You know, I still got a shot to hit that.")

Maybe I am old fashion, but why are you modeling these for an ex? I know I love for my wife to model new clothes for me.( Any kind. My wife is a nerd's nerd( It's why I married her, I really am attracted to nerds) and I really wish she'd dress a little more preppy, but STEM folks are not there.) Then again, I have 3 more closets of clothes than my wife.......When we first got married and the " matching set " first got modeled for me, and well, often the" matching sets" wound up on the floor, especially the last ones. Come on, married folks are supposed to do stuff like this, and if you aren't, well, try it.....I'm sure the hubby will love it. 

But modeling for an ex-BF? 

Why did you marry in the first place? Seriously lady, why? If you are wanting to screw other people, why'd you get married? 

I know my wife wouldn't wear bikinis in public after we started dating, sort of a respect deal,( I no longer need to advertise was the explanation) and I never asked her to stop, and I don't expect married, seriously dating ladies not to wear them, but you know, sending photos to ex's? 

Makes you wonder who else go the bikini pictures?