Info From The Buna ISD....Patrons.....

 I had not planned to blog today, or even the remainder of this week....Unless some dramatic occurred..

I have heard from more people in the Buna Public Schools than in a while. 

Most are concerned about the scores that the schools and the school district received.  And while many, or the people in the community themselves are not throwing a fit on social media concerning the "D" that the Buna ISD received from the State of Texas, I am hearing from them. 

More than I expected. 

As one wrote me and said...." How, seriously, how did Vidor get a "B" and Buna get a "D" from Texas?" 

Another one wrote me and said, " I know people wrote you about moving their kids to other schools, I really wonder if my husband and me should start looking?  Who?"

 ( I really no longer know?)

And the parents in the Buna Community are more upset than you know. 

I often catch more flak that actual people still working for the school. People just vent, and I let them. Often they have kids in the schools and they are afraid that some teacher, some administrator will take it out on their kids.  

One more wrote, " Buna is like Beaumont and Port Arthur ISD on the state points? Did I read that right?" 

And then, I received this..." Kery( Mispelled my name, I am Irish, two "Rs" ) stay after them on 62, my property taxes are G*d Damn high and this is the shit they try and pull ?"  

( I've edited the messages) 

 Let me remind everyone who works for the Buna ISD, heck, any government entity. You work for the taxpayer. Yes, they don't own you, but they pay your salary. And sometimes, those of us around the schoolhouses, administration buildings forget that. 

And I know teachers, you feel like you have been set up to fail. I know this, and  I know if I was having to deal with the new testing system, I would be feeling the same way. And don't get me started on the money from and to testing companies and the Texas Legislature. 

- Last night, at the board meeting there was considerable concern and questions asked of the Supt. of Schools concerning the number of teacher that the Buna ISD has without certification.  

I've been asking that question for a while now. 

Generally, not always, when a person get a degree in what traditionally is an area that is a teaching area, when the person graduates from university, they have already done their student teaching and when they walk across the stage at the college, the state is in the process of issuing them a teaching certificate. Or it was in the past.

More and more, it seems like someone is getting an English or a history or another core academic degree and looking around to see if they can do something other than teaching. It's only when they go into teaching, later they get a certificate. 

Don't get me wrong, many of these get a certificate later turn into good teacher.   And even graduating with a certificate, many people leave the business within 5 years. Colleges just do not do a good job of preparing people to teach. And most of you reading this, do not understand what the job really is like. And as I have said, I could not do it in 2025. ( I promised Mr. Thomas Vaughn I'd tell teaching stories one day in a blog, so those are coming, some of you won't believe some of these stories coming, many happened when I was teaching in Magnolia and Dayton.)

And I wonder what is going on? I have heard from people with certificates in academic fields in which people without certificates were hired over them. 

Contrary to general thought, I really, really want the Buna ISD to do well. You have remember where I retired from. I have a personal interest in the district doing well.   

Please folks, help the blog, like on Facebook.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cracker Barrel and Why They Did What They Did?...... And I Address Men.....

 I seriously stopped going to Cracker Barrel a number of years ago. 

The food was going downhill plus, I had gotten food poison from one of their stores. We wound up at the ER. Two of us had eaten the same thing. 

We switched to the Black Bear, but the last time we were there, well, it was disappointing. 

So, why did they change? 

Here is the economics behind the change, and yes, they chose the wrong person. 

The CEO's glasses hurt the entire change, and don't tell me otherwise. She looks like a CEO of a chic restaurant chain based in New York City, not one based in Tennessee.  Trust me, I wear round glasses because, it makes me look "teachery." Yes, I try often to look like I do, or in my case, taught school. 

I wonder if she had even eaten at a Cracker Barrel before she went to work at Cracker Barrel? 

She needed to go to a stylist from the South to help her media blitz.  

Cracker Barrel's customer base has always been older folks, those with a rural background or wanting a rural background.  Boomers mostly. 

The customer base is starting to die off. Gen Z, heck Millennials generally do want to eat at  Cracker Barrel. 

So, Ms. Glasses was hired to change Cracker Barrel. 

Trouble is, in her attempt to save the brand, she may have killed it. They have run off many of their old base in an attempt to "rebrand" and save the store. Make is more "hip." 

It is a breakfast place. That has rural type dinners. It was built on older senior diners.  

And say what you want, their traditional base is dying off. Literally.  

They have simply in an attempt to save the product, sped up the death process.  

Cracker Barrel is like many other restaurants. Sometimes, you have to close non-performing shops. Sometimes,, many times, restaurants go out of business.  

My favorite hamburger chain of all time was a place called Burger Chef. There was one near Lamar out on what is now MLK across from the football stadium. When I was there, you put you lettuce, tomatoes, onion, mustard, mayo, catsup whatever on your burger yourself.  

But its time like many other restaurants came to an end.  

- We went out of town to celebrate a couple of milestone and chose a place we thought had some form of standards. 

At one one time the restaurant had a former of a dress code. 

And why we drove out of town. 

And we expect to see whatever when we dine in Beaumont-Pt. Arthur, heck even Houston.....Men in shorts so short they may have holes in the butt of their jean shorts, tank tops, with your old nasty ass hair hang out.  The last time I was at the Texas Roadhouse in our area, a women had so much chesticals hanging out, I moved because I knew nipplage was going to poke out at any time. More cleavage than at a Hooters. And I changed seats. This was a woman with kids with her and I assume her husband. If she was on a date, later in the evening, I could understand. There was no baby in site and I know babies get hungry. 

And in truth, I don't expect fine dining from the roadhouse.  

This was a nice place we were at. I remember when men were expect to be in a jacket and tie. 

Not anymore. Hell, these guys could not even afford a nice polo shirt and khaki type slacks. 

I walked by a guy who looked like and worse, smelled like he'd been cutting grass all day. Can't you catch a quick shower, a change of clothes before going out to a nice restaurant? 

And here is the bad part, I expect it in the Golden Triangle. I shouldn't, but I do....  

 

 

 

I Actually Had a Buna Teacher Write Me Upset About This.....

 I thought they were either kidding, or it was some sort of satire, or I was just missing something....

 Nope!

The other day I had complained about administrators calling school faculty/staff " family." 

And it isn't. 

They thought the school was a family.... 

It is a different job. Most people who have not been a teacher do not really understand the dynamics. I still keep up with my students, or try to. I still worry about many of them, case in point, I have one in prison, due to be released in '26 I am keeping track of. And want to see her do well in the future. I know she has messed up a few times in recent years. 

Others ex-students, I have not a clue where they are and to be honest, they could care less if I knew. And that's fine, as I have had some literally attack me for some perceived slight I had given them while in high school. And that's fine. In truth I probably don't want to know what your life has become.  

But concerning people you teach school with. 95% of them you are not friends with, much less consider them family. There are very few I hear from since I retired, and don't expect them or me to follow their lives. Others, I hear from, from  time to time. 

I was there for the kids. I was there because I got a check every 20th of the month from Buna ISD. Look, your pastor is the same way, you stop paying him, they're going to find another pastoral job. And I've never heard a preacher leave a job for a new that pays less. " God is calling them to a new church that pays $10,000 more a year." If a pastoral job pays less, well, the church they are at presently, is probably about to run them off.  

In this county, there was a teacher who had a retirement dinner  a few days before she retired...There were only family members at the dinner. 

Apparently a faculty member saw the get together.  

The last week of school at a faculty meeting her principal called her down for not inviting all the school to the dinner, and had the gall to say she "Should have paid for it." 

She got up during the meeting, went to the administration building and retired on the spot. She figured the last week of school, would be a living hell on earth.... ( You can't make this stuff up.)

And this is to everyone. 

People at work are generally not your friends. And if you leave that job, you'll probably never think or hear from them again.....

It's a job. Quit thinking it is something it isn't. 

Think about how many Supt. of Schools Buna has had in recent years who at first told everyone they'll be in Buna for years, and 2-3 years later they are in a better paying job.   

A job will fire you in a heartbeat for you making a misstep...For economics.....For whatever. 

Yes, I was sad when I retired, I knew I was letting several of the Class of 2012 down and several of them told me so, and had more than one tell me how much they hated my replacement. 

But, I had to retire. I had health trouble that was plaguing me. 

My health was so much better 5 months into my retirement. I had a personality change. I was so much happier. 

Folks, it's a job. 

JUST a job.  

 

 

 

Damn Buna Schools....You're Looking Bad....Some People Are Saying You Suck.....

 Years ago when the test was still the old TAKS Exams, I remember a fat bald headed man who was Chairman of the History Department at Buna High School. 

I remember he made the district call the Social Studies Department the " History Department" because, well, it just sounds better. It just does. Never mind while he has a History Certification, and he holds an old school Social Studies Composite Certificate. 

Never mind the Government, Economics, Geography classes were included in the department.  

He was a lot of things. 

He still is. 

He was proud of his department....

He was proud of his history teachers. He thinks he had one of the best group of history teachers in Texas.

He had a coach sit on his desk in front of the kids, rub his bad knees, and just teach the hell out of the French Revolution. ( I include him, because he'll probably read this and I want him to know, I knew.)

The thing I was proudest of was our scores on the state exam. 

History scored a 100 more than once. We had the best scores in Region 5, hell, the state of Texas.  

I remember the feckin' Supt. of Schools brought in someone to improve our tests scores for the entire district. I remember not going to listen to the person talk/"instructor" us on our scores.....Why should I? We were at 100%. 

Needless to say, it was another time I got into trouble....And was forced to attend the " indoctrination." 

The Region 5 "person" was incensed I did not go, and challenged me why I " Did not care what she was teaching?" To which I replied. You're not going to help us.....To which she replied, don't you want to improve your scores? 

She had not even looked to see we had outscored Region 5. Had a perfect 100. To which I informed her our scores. 

She had no reply. And got mad....

I left during the afternoon break and went with the Chairman of the Science Department, who's department also had a perfect score, and went and got a Coke,( He was, I assume he still is, a Diet Coke man) and rode around town, only to return to school when it was time to go home. 

Did we get some sort of cash incentive for our score?

No.

Did we get a pizza?( Joe Howell was cooking some dog-gone good pizzas across the road during that time.)

No.

Did we get a heartfelt thanks?

No. 

We got nothing. 

We got the same pay, the scrutiny, the same unhappiness that everyone else got because their scores were bad. 

And like the Army, because one was bad, all suffered. 

Hell, I can't remember there being much of a hoopla in the old newspaper at the time. If anything. 

So, my in-box this past Friday was full of messages from people all upset about the Buna ISD making a "D" on their state scores. 

The elementary made an " F" the JH a "C" and the HS a " C".....

Man, that was bad. 

Really bad, and the Supt. of Schools was still praising the teaching in a memo she sent out to teachers. 

Well, you have to tell them that.....I guess. 

Already I am getting ( more than you know) people wonder, should I send my kids someplace else.  Evadale ISD seems to be the district most seem to want to move their children to. And Evadale ISD did score a good solid "B". And a lot of Buna kids I taught ( They are grown ass people now) are sending their children to Evadale.

And my answer is.....You got to do what is best for your children. 

I know we wound up sending Reid to LCM-ISD. Partly because it is more of an urban district, a larger district, and I would have loved for Reid to have attended Buna. Had me for AP Gov. AP Microeconomics, Anton for science, Tandy, Kay, Melissa, yes, even Kathy for English. But it is not his school. He is urban. He thrived at LCM.( And LCM is not really city) He lived downtown in China, in the middle of a 9 million population city and thrived......His mother, father, grandparents all have a horrible East Texas accent.....Reid's accent is a standard American accent. He worked to get rid of the twang. The best I can do is a Cork Irish or a West Coast of Scotland accent. ( Me people) He is not rural. Then again, at age 6 he was reading Machiavelli's " The Prince" because I had left it on the table one day working on something for my AP Government class, I could not find it, and he'd taken it to his room and was on his bed reading it.. ( I don't think you really understand how different my child is. He was never really a child and it concerned his parents, still does. He told us at age 8 that he might like living overseas.....And lived in Korea, China in his 20s for 6 years....I am not going to be shocked if we all don't wind up in Japan or Singapore. April has sort of planned on it.) I digress....

But, you must do what you can to prepare you children for whatever they are doing next. If you feel that Buna is doing okay, stay....If not, find another district. 

Okay, let's talk a little about the Buna ISD. 

Man, I wonder how much the last 2 Supt. of Schools had influence on these scores? The Buna Score certainly won't really follow them as they are both now in pretty big cities as superintendent. Some one wrote wonder about " social experiments" by the school board?  

I know Wichita Falls ISD made a D...... 

I'm going to let you decide yourself on that one. 

And yes, there will be defenders of the Buna district, but if it keeps going down, well, they don't turn it around, the state can come in and take it over. 

It happening right now in Houston at HISD. It's happened at Beaumont ISD. It's happened at smaller schools. 

Okay, let's change gears......

Teachers- I know a bunch of you are doing the best you can. I know this. I know there are teachers down the hall that suck, but they are professional suck ups and they'll keep their jobs. You know this.  Keep plugging away. And if you hate Buna, move. Move. Don't stay and be miserable. I know the kids are different. Hate the job? Get the hell out. Yeah, everyone will bitch about everything in the school business, but everyone bitches about their jobs.  

Administrators- Hire people with actual certificates. I know in my field, they are not that hard to find. Figure out a way to reward good scores. Recruit better teachers. Retain the goods. Feckin' get rid of the bad ones. Buna should have fired me a few times and crazy-ass me, pushed the envelope even harder. 

Parents- Don't blame the school for your sorry ass kid. You damn well know if your kid is sorry. Don't try and hide the fact. Pay attention to your kid. Get off the damn cell phone, quit looking at Team Skeet and Brazzers and check if your kid can read and write, do their times tables. Hell, parents used to do that. So many of you are more worried about you kid with a damn ball and how many Buna kids now make an actual living playing some sport? 

School Board- It's your job to make sure the school runs right. Sometimes you have to take unpopular stands. Sometimes you need to be an asshole. Sometimes you need to bit the bullet and run people off. Be moral and ethical. If it looks questionable, don't do it. Be fair. Let me reiterate, be fair.  

The world is changing. I no longer recommend college degrees. Trade school, vocational degrees fields in health care. My wife has so many state certificates and national licenses in her health care field, and none required her degree. And she's never gone without job offers. And yes, I know doctors, lawyers, even teachers in the core classes need degrees, but with AI, degrees in the Classics ( What I really wanted to study in school, but 50 years ago, I couldn't get into Rice and could not afford to move to Austin and go to Texas even in the Mid-70s. The nearest schools to me with serious enough Classics programs.) or any degree really, are going to become less and less needed. 

I read where a number of you are blaming the state for this entire mess, and yes, it is a mess, but who elected the Texas State Legislature, the State Board of Education( SBOE) who came up with these tests, rules? Us......We elected the people who established the tests, the rules. And we keep electing the same people over and over again. ( I know no one decent is running against them.)

And I'm no fan of the test, the scoring system, heck, how textbooks are chosen.  Years ago, I was looking at one of the World History texts and included was a map of the Silk Road(s) from China. I asked my then son's girlfriend if they were correct. She had a fit saying, " No, these are wrong." When we visited China for Reid's and her wedding,  she and Dr. Zhou, her father, took me to one of the Silk Roads.( I did not ask to go, they took it upon themselves to correct the SBOE's poor history.) It is a major highway now, and there was a monument marking where it crossed through Kunming. It was no place near the roads indicated on the textbook maps. Thank you SBOE,( sarcasm) and you wonder why I rarely used a textbook. 

Now some of you would love to go back to the "old days" and when I first arrived at Buna I was literally told by some of the "Old Hand" teachers to graduate from Buna High School all you had to do was be able to "Say 'Tater' and wave bye-bye. " 

I took that as a challenge and made my class hard. Let's bring this place up to where I know these kids need to be.  

They should have "Runt me off" at that point.  

I know some of you wish it was that "tater" simple. Trouble is, you will be the same people bitching and moaning saying...." Our damn kids don't know nuthin'"..... 

Buna, you're going to have to quit playing politics. You're going to need to take care of even the least of these. EVEN if you don't like them. 

Okay the clock is running. Buna, you've got to do better. Parents keep them accountable. Teachers, administrators, board, you took the job. Don't sit around and smile thinking everything is okay, or it'll be alright. You may have to step on some toes. And I know that's hard to do, and the good Lord knows I made more enemies than friends trying to do the right thing....And other than myself knowing...I know you all hate the scoring system, but it is the game we have to play. And if you don't do what the state wants, well, you'll fail in their eyes....And fail in the eyes of everyone else. 

I'm sorry Buna, but you know who else in our area made a "D?" In our area? Port Arthur ISD.....West Orange ISD....Beaumont ISD.....People are running away from those districts. Why would anyone look at Buna's scores and want their kids to come there? 

 

  

  

 

I Apologize......And Now for Something Completely Different. ( Old Monty Python Reference)

 Again, I owe a couple of you phone calls, hell, thinking about just showing up at their house , however, if I was them, I'd greet me with a 12 gauge pump. I know a couple of you I owe my time and energy. 

I apologize. 

I have business I have to take care of this week. Literally, I am adulting, and since I retired, well, hell, I have slipped back to 18-19-20-21 year old Kerry Don Thomas. Literally, the girl I started to date made me grow the hell up.....She was barely 18 when we started dating. I mean barely. 

I went /am going through a bit of the "blues" as I posted on Facebook due to the loss of high school and a college friend. Both to cancer. 

I had helped the college friend get over a girlfriend who had left him for another mutual friend of ours. They married, and it wasn't long afterward they divorced and she came back begging for him to take her back. 

To my surprise, he listened to me and I told him to " move on." 

I'm sorry, but if a girl or a boy will screw someone else, while they are with you, or leave you for someone else, and want to come back, I am sorry, if they cheat once, there is a good chance they'll do it again....Kick 'em to the curb. 

Yeah, it'll hurt, but you'll be better off. 

My college friend later met a girl a couple of years older than him, and they were the love of each other's lives. 

Then, my nephew has started his first teaching job. I literally have been on the phone with him hours pumping him up. When BHS got me, I was a fully formed Mr. Thomas. I had taught for over a decade before I came to Buna.  And the thing is, he is dadgum me. Literally. Thinks like I do. Acts like I do. Loves History and English Literature like I do....That said, he is like his cousin Reid. Likes the red-headed girls.....But then again, in Reid's case, you never know who you'll fall in love with, a young Chinese girl who literally is the smartest person in the room when  she walks in, and she keeps it hidden. Damn M.S. in AI from Carnegie Mellon .... One of those, old Kerry couldn't get in that college if he tried. 

If I owe you my time, my effort, I will be connecting you in the next week.  

And if you need to hash something out with me, LMK. 

I apologize..... 

So, I Was Looking At The Buna Faculty......

 Especially the high school.....

I swear, I think I taught about 50% of the faculty.  

And it's a damn good thing Buna has alumni, for if not, they wouldn't have teachers. It was a little like this when I roamed the halls of Buna HS, but just a little. 

Today, it's a lot of Buna kids. 

Govteach, Kerry, Kerry Don, Mr. Thomas......Is that bad? 

Not really. 

It is actually good that a former student wants to be in Buna. 

I've been in school districts in which for whatever reason the alumni either don't, or can't get a job with the district.  

Heck, I even ran into it in my professional career. Then, again, as I've said for years, I wasn't supposed to be where I wanted to be, I was supposed to be in South Jasper County. I am convinced of that. 

But, as per norm, I digress....

Buna teachers.....You start tomorrow.  I know it's hard, I know there will be stress, I know you'll wonder if it is worth it? 

Is it worth it? While there has been this idea that somehow teachers are evil, and want to corrupt kids, morally, politically, however, 99.99999% just want the best for the kids. They want the kid to become a meaningful member of society. 

Teachers, and this is important....Be fair. It is hard to do, but be fair. Whether you know the kid, or their family, or don't know them from Adam, be fair to them all, and there will be people who want their kids treated better than everyone else......You can't. You just can't....

Teachers, do your best. I know there will be days you'll be worn out, especially the first two weeks of school and then toward the end of the Spring semester. Keep plugging away. The first two weeks, you literally have to get back into what I called " teaching shape" after you've been off for the Summer Break. It was a thing for most of us. Lecture like I did, 6 periods, 6-7 hours, your voice, your back, your mind, has to build up endurance again.  

If you have seniors, don't treat them like little kids. When I had you , I had married people, seniors with grown ass jobs, grown ass problems.the longer I had you in class during the year, the more I tried to treat you like a grown up.  

Remember teachers, while you are there for the kids, this is also a job. The district will throw you under the bus, let you go in a heartbeat. Watch yourself, and even then, you can get into trouble and not even try. It's just the nature of the business. 

Guys, ladies, and I wrote about this earlier, watch yourself around kids of the opposite sex. Don't put yourself in a place that looks bad, and certainly don't ruin your life over some 16 year old. 

I hope you have a good year. I really do, in 2025, I could not do it. A combo of today's kids and I'm old enough that I remember Augustus Caesar as an undergrad.   

You never know what you're going to get in class. In 2009, my 5th period class was all male except for two girls. Bunch of knotheads. Thought I was going to hate this bunch......It may have been my favorite class of all time. Hell, it WAS my favorite class.   

Again, enjoy the year, and if you're like me, have fun with your kids. It makes the class something for the kids to look forward to... 

 

More on Throuples.....School.......Follow-Up to Messages............

 After I posted post on Saturday, I stepped away from Social Media, including the blog, except for one post on Facebook concerning Orange, TX, I've not even really looked at the blog and numbers. 

So, I get up this morning and check Lake Charles weather radar, like I do every morning, ( Hey, I am old, the weather is important to us oldsters.)  I then go over and check the numbers on blog and then, my message I receive on FB. 

I am somewhat shocked at the amount of people who have written me concerning the Throuple blog and the follow-up. I was surprised at the number of people who know threesomes, foursome, and fivesomes( How does five even work?) living together. ( When I heard about the five, all I could think of was some porn site.....As someone wrote me, it is more about economics. I'm not sure about that, if they are Poly, well, being intimate is certainly involved.....)

And sure 'nuff, I had to explain to some of you naive folks what a " Train" was......

I really was shocked at the number of hits on the blog I received.....Seriously, I may need to look at a "Govteach After Midnight" blog. 

Or perhaps not....

Then, I received a couple of upset folk's messages concerning my last blog concerning America spiraling into a Second World country. 

I'm not sure what you are looking at? 

The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg are all reporting how bad the fast food restaurants are doing, and they can't sell breakfasts anymore. The first belt tightening meal is always breakfast. Heck, Wendy's is reporting that they cannot see any of their items. 

The Kentucky Bourbon business is crashing. Again, unless you're an alcoholic, drinking bourbon is an expense that can be cut. 

Retailers are looking for weaker than normal sales for Christmas.  

Macroeconomic uncertainty and pressures such as inflation are weighing on the consumer is hurting a lot of businesses that rely on disposable income.      

And I don't look for it to get better. 

This will upset some people, but I may do more economics, trouble is, my economics blogs lose readership.....I may need to start an The Ecoteach-Part Deaux. I actually taught economics longer than government.   

Finally, school starts this week for most districts in our area, most of Texas. 

I spent 3 1/2 hours Friday night pumping up my nephew for his first day at Fort Stockton High School. He has my personality, but I worry. 

I know Buna starts on Wednesday. As I have said, I start year 15 retired this academic year. I could no longer do it, nor would I want to do so. 

There may be a blog addressed to teacher on Wednesday. I am not sure....... 

As I have mentioned earlier, I am working on a couple of blogs concerning the Buna Schools. They are in the future. One I've found is difficult to write and research.  

Man, Y'all Nasty....You Liked the Throuples- And I Make Some of You Mad....

 I need to seriously start that @ "The Govteach After Dark" blog. I might be able to monetize it. I'm afraid I'll wind up getting shot if I went hard into it....But it's why I carry a gun now. I'm too old to be taking an ass-whipping. 

But the numbers tell me what you REALLY want..... 

I'd have to start dressing like the late Hugh Hefner of the old Playboy empire......Wear pajama pretty much all day, ( I do that now, but they're dark PJ pants and a long-sleeved Henley type shirt.) No, I'd have to get silk PJs. Cut off my beard, make my mustache into a "pencil thin" one.....Start smoking a pipe. 

Just not sure I am ready to go there......Yet..... 

And I found out it's more people in this type of relationship than I first thought.  

Okay, let me put my economics cap on. I know, I've lost you already.....

I am convinced the US is going to become a Second-World Country. Slowly, but we are going there. 

Here is what is going to happen......

In the next 15-20 years we are going to slowly decay. Become like an Argentina. 

It will be very slow, and you'll get up one morning and be wondering? What the Cornbread Feck happened to us?   And there will be times you'll look and think, we're going to make it, and as soon as you do, you'll realize it's just an illusion that you are seeing. 

We are going to have a shrinking population, and right now the average woman is having 1.6 kids. To have a replacement rate to keep the economics and America going we need well over 2 kids.  ( About 2.2 to 2.5.)

We are going to have more inflation....Already the administration is talking about sending checks to everyone from tariff monies....And what will that cause? Even more inflation...It happened when the government was giving out money during the Covid pandemic. 

Labor participation is going to be down. A combo of people not being able to find jobs, and people just not wanting to work.  

We are have more debt, both the average consumer and the US Government.  

The dollar will go down in value. Already it's taking a beating against the British Pound, the Euro, the Swiss Franc. ( I'm kicking myself for not investing in Swiss Francs a few years ago) Hell The RMB( Chinese currency.)   

Now the US is not going to become a third-world shithole like some countries, I know this is going to make some of you mad when I say this, but the era of American Exceptionalism is over. 

Every empire ends. It just does. Why would we be different? 

I know some of you think that American Christianity is better than other forms of Christianity.  Why? I'm mean seriously, why? When places like the Churches in Tanzania  and Kenya are sending missionaries to America because they think we've  "Lost our way...." 

 It won't be a just sudden collapse, it'll be slow, it'll be a general malaise....

Great Britain is there.  

As much as I love England and Scotland, they are decaying faster than us. Their economy is in the tube. Get outside of London, and go into other cities, and towns, and what they call the  High Street or the business district no longer exists.....And jobs, are hard to find. 

I'm not going to be around for the worst, I turn 68 later this month and well, I took a bunch off the front in, so, I dread what is going to happen to many of you, my kids, my nephews..... 

 

 

 

 

Throuples?????? In Buna?

 For those of you who don't know, a throuple is defined as this.....A throuple, also known as a triad or three-person relationship, is where 3 people are in a romantic and sexual relationship. 

And it seems there are more than one in South Jasper County. And they're keeping it under wraps ( of course) in the community....But, it's there apparently , if you look.  

Why should we be surprised? Shocked? There's been " Swingers"  in the community for years. I've written on them in the past. You know this...

But an official " Throuple?"( I am wondering if one is bi? One throuple is MMF....one is MFF....That's my understanding.......I was/am somewhat shocked with the girl in the MMF....I'd never dream she'd probably be pulling " Trains..")

You know, while I really want to know how ex-students are doing, something like this, well. I don't want to know....But people tell me anyway..... 

And here is the goofy part, apparently one of them is "claiming" that " The Lord told them to do this."

Which Lord? The " Dark Lord?"  

Just Going to Ramble Today....Buna...A&M....Pastoral Counseling.....Another Fine Mess.....

 I am all over the place today. We didn't know what ADHD was back in the day, but I am sure I have it....Then again, back in the day they'd knock hell out of us for not paying attention...- Instead of writing this earlier, I looked a clothes porn. Like a I need another sports coat, or a tie...  

- Working on a story involving the Buna ISD. Not sure when it'll come out. Might be next week, next month, etc....I got to get my ducks in a row. 

- Bridge City ISD starts school today...That means they had in-service already starting way back in July...Dadgum...

-I owe a couple of you answers back to texts/messages. Got to doing Pastoral Counseling for a former student. You JUST THINK you have problems. ( And I know some of you do)  But sometimes we all need to thank the Divine for what we have. We could be stuck in the slums of India, or Mogadishu, or Gaza....

-I am glad to see former students doing well enough they can afford season tickets to see A&M play. Last time I was at Kyle Field, I got sort of dizzy looking at the student section when they " Sawed Varsities' Horns Off."  Have not been back since. Then again, I am to the point I'd rather watch whatever game in my living room. And in truth, I may forget to even watch....

- Speaking of Buna ISD, my Facebook has been inundated with photos of teachers smiling, looking happy.....at in-service.......I'm calling Bullshit....

- Also saw it was " Meet the Teacher"....I am wondering if that extended to the high school. I think I'd put a big sign on my door..." Plan to graduate? I'd think twice before knocking."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I Get Ugly Mail.....On the B#tchin' Blog....

 I don't know, this is why I don't suggest you get a blog.....

While I received a lot of good messages concerning the blog on School Supplies, I also received some ugly messaging.....

And that happens from time to time...

And here are some of the messages....

-" Don't teachers get to write off their taxes stuff they buy for school?" ( Yes, but  that is fairly recent, and only about $300....)Heck, I spent that before school even started back when I was teaching. I can't imagine how much teachers are spending for the first day now, especially elementary teachers. 

-And I received several wondering about this...." Kids need headphones?" This is 2025, so I am not shocked. The world changes. I can't see practical usage for gov/eco, but I am no longer teaching gov/eco. But I can see using bluetooth to  stream George Strait, or figure a way to stream a second stream with say, " Rage Against the Machine." ( I could just about hear what some of the people down the hall from me would say hearing me play " Killing in The Name Of..." )

-Then, there is the person railing against property taxes......Yes, I know they are high, and I don't like paying school taxes either, and my child has been out of school for over 20+ years. But, it's the taxing system we have. Would you rather have a state income tax? I'm sure some of you are sounding like Pink Floyd...." We don't need no education."

-Then, I had a couple of people rage about no cell phones in class......Again, I have mixed emotions. I could see practical application for them especially in microeconomics.....I also see them as being a distraction.  

-Also  I had some one lose their damn minds on buying supplies that other kids would be using, not their children. In so many words, they called me a " Socialist." Look, I raise one of the biggest " Running Dog"capitalists in America.....His wife, while raised in what is "called" a Maoist-Communist nation is even more about capitalism and making money than anyone I know. 

They did this because, well, some of the supplies will go to kids that can't afford them.....Yeah, that's mighty Christian of you... 

Seriously ladies and gentlemen, you need to travel to China, everyone there is in business of some sort. It is amazing. When Scottish economist/philosopher Adam Smith wrote in 1776 " The Wealth of Nations" he would be shocked at the usage of the " Invisible Hand" being used in the " People's Republic."  ( Then again, we were in a part of China with no " blue eyes" literally no tourists....and we have a "Family Visa" which means we can come and go from China as we please.....I would like to go to Hong Kong again....Have a suit made in Shenzhen. Maybe a couple of hardcore pinstripes, including one with chalk stripes, look like I actually taught economics or something...)

I digress...

We are in a day and age in which no one is happy...We just look for stuff to bitch about.....And somehow it is worse since the pandemic business. I seriously wonder what the hell was in the vaccines? ( I'm not really a conspiracy person, but I've not been the same since I've taken them. Not again...)

I know economically we are in a recession. I'm sorry but, we are. Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox Business the gubmint, is just not telling us, but we are.....I need to write a blog on it, but you know, it is depressing thinking about it....

Again, I digress...

Give teachers a break. Most are doing the best they can, they're spending money out of their pockets to teach your offspring( The computer just started playing " Self Esteem" IYKYK, )....You know, especially for teachers of younger kids, you might really want to give them a break, and for Christmas instead of another coffee cup, get them a gift card for Walmart....   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why You B#tchin' About This Buna????

 Bitch, bitch, bitch......I swear some of you are not happy without something to bitch about....

So, I know school supplies are expensive. 

And I know the amount of stuff seems to get larger every year. 

But, I've never seen so many people griping about having to get 
"extra" stuff for the classroom. 

And who do you think will have to get the extra stuff, like they're not already spending anywhere between $200-500 just to get stuff for their rooms even before school starts....Yeah, that's right the teacher. 

Hell, I only expected you to have a spiral notebook and a pen for my class. That is it.....And about a 80% of you at some point in the year couldn't even handle that. I had spiral notebooks I bought at Family Dollar/Dollar General.....I even had a jar of pens on my desk that people "borrowed" from and about 90% of the students just kept. Hell, I supplied paper for you to take tests on.  

I could be on a plane now to England/Scotland with all the money I spent just so you could take my class.( Sorry, looking at trips to Europe for Easter 2026. Just something "cooler than cool" about going to church in a massive British Cathedral for Easter. Explore the mysteries of "High-Church" Consubstantiation, Yeah, I have questions about it, so don't write me....) I'd love to do it for Christmas, but the airliners charge double for flights to Europe for the holidays.)

I know inflation is killing you, it's killing us all, at least you're not spending what amounted to $1204.59, I kept track one year, just to do my job right. And have kids with the correct "tools" to work in my classroom. 

What are we talking about $10-20 for extra supplies? 

Some of you are spending $25-30 a day on Marlboros and Miller Lites.