Writing on Evadale? Some Buna Parents? Why do I Hate This Town?

 Brief blog for a Monday...

A source has told me, that the lower school addition to Evadale ISD will be done they are projecting for December. 

I was told that allegedly they will be able to start taking Buna kids on the waiting list. I know there are Buna parents who have pulled their kids out of the Buna Schools, homeschooling and waiting until opening become available in Evadale ISD.  

Right now, Evadale has the largest Freshman class it has ever had.....Take note Buna. You are already the smallest school in your UIL District.  

The new part of the Evadale upper school is scheduled to be done by March. Now that late will they accept students? 

- Finally, was asked in my PM's why I hated certain towns.

In truth, I am am ambivalent about most places. 

The only 3 towns that I really hate are....

Nederland- They were our band rivals back in the middle 1970s. 

Orangefield and later Winnie ( East Chambers)- They were our competition in district for UIL Academic Contests when I was at BHS.    

And at this point, I don't really care about them..... 

 

I Came So Close Buna-Ex's....A Question.......Louisiana......Britbox....Blue Bell?

 -The Computer decided I needed to listen to the " Mad Dogs and Englishmen" album this morning......All 2 hours.....Yeah, Joe Cocker can't sing, but the band Leon Russell together is worth a listen, and yeah, it was recorded live across America when I was in high school.....And yes, I have the 2 LPs.....Someplace.....

-Two classes as I have mentioned earlier had a 20th and a 30th reunion and I remembered a few people I taught being in those classes, I so wanted to show up and make fun of.....Trouble is, were they there? And how long before by Ulster-Irish Presbyterian mouth gets me into trouble? So, I stayed home and watched Tech and Houston. 

-The Question of the Day- A crossover from my Facebook site.....How many folks actually stayed and watched the band after the game?

- Apparently it was play a Louisiana school last night.....Buna, Deweyville, Evadale, and Vidor all played high schools from Louisiana.  

- For you with Britbox, Cooper and Fry is worth a watch, if only for the scenery. It takes place in the Peak District of Derby-shire, England but in reality, it is filmed in rural Ireland for tax reasons. The plots are okay and it is worth a watch.

Tuppence and Tommy on the other hand is pretty bad, that said, I don't care for the old TV versions either.  

- I keep telling you to keep and eye on Europe. I still look for Russian airstrike of some sort to hit German, Poland, France and possibly England..... Lots of rhetoric from both sides.....

- Is it just us, as has Blue Bell Ice Cream slipped? 2 of our last 3 half gallons were not up to Blue Bell standards. We got some Great Divide and it was good, but you can't really mess up vanilla or chocolate....

- Have a good weekend, don't plan to blog until next week.   

 

 

 

Well, In Truth, You Can Do Whatever.....However, You Can Show Some Class.....

 The world changes and well, I am getting old. 

I know there needs to be changes in life, especially in the schools....

But I was somewhat surprised to learn that the Bune Band was not marching at halftime of homecoming....Heck, in my town, a lot of people show up just to see the band march at half, or did.....

My senior year in high school, I remember an old guy walking behind a bunch of band students saying, " Fuck football, I am here to see the Vidor Band."

But that was 52 years ago.... 

I know they have toned it down and Charles Smith and Ronnie Touchstone are long gone, both of which I knew, but it was the thing to see when I was playing in the band.....

Yes, they crowned the Homecoming Queen none of which I remember, and did it while playing the song from the musical " South Pacific" " Some Enchanting Evening. " ( Yeah, the song was awful.) And the Homecoming Court walked off the field. 

Afterwards 

-  The stadium lights were turned off. 

- And the band stepped off to "Cyrus the Great" by K.L. King, and we had flashlights taped under our pants, to our legs with masking or duct tape.  Marching itself was simple, it was all follow the leader and you hoped the woodwind player lead knew where they were going.

- And it was followed by massive Fourth of July type fireworks blowing up over the top of the field, so load, people in Beaumont could hear the explosions.  Loud, bright, scary, and fantastic all at once, and crap falling out of the sky on top of us as we march.

- There were junior high band kids in full uniform lighting up the yard-lines that had placed flares every 10 yards on both sides of the field....

-Meanwhile about 10-12 twirlers were on the yard-lines twirling fire.    

- If that was not enough assault on your senses, there were 2 fireboards of fireworks hanging on the goal posts, that were lit turning night into day, if it was not bright enough already.

- And in typical Vidor fashion we march off the field to a 17th Century Russian Christmas Hymn....( And I see Vidor is still wearing Napoleonic War style uniforms, very similar to what the Prussian Army wore in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo)

- There was enough smoke on the field when the lights came back on, you expect the British Royal Commandos to come running out with Lord Levitt shouting " Up the action boys!"  

You can't make this up, I dare you to try.....

And I understand, and an extravaganza today would bankrupt most schools. 

And if you remember, I played in my college marching band for 4 years, and well, it wasn't the same as high school just wasn't, and for some reason, I kept signing up for it.  ( One of those foreordained deals, I have been married to the reason for 45 years.....And I almost signed up to complete my college PE requirement playing softball, and if you really know me, you'd know how much I loved playing baseball/softball. And as I signing up, I came so close to writing down that 11AM softball course, and well, I said, maybe one more band year, make it 4 years....God works in mysterious ways.)

And I understand well, you can do what the hell ever you want to do in Buna at halftime.  

Here is what the blog is actually about.....

I know tonight most of you will be tired at the end of the ballgame. Long week, boss is an asshole, employees are nit-wits and assholes, you've been thinking since the 3rd quarter how good of a sammich that ham in the ice box would make when you get home.....

Stay another 20-30 minutes and watch the Buna Marching Band at the end of the ballgame.

The kids are working hard for the UIL Marching Contest. It is a big deal for these kids. 

You don't know how much the kids will appreciate it. 

That ham will still be waiting for you in the ice box when you get home.  

Show a little class tonight folks.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Don't Even Know Where to Start.....

 Fred came in from his morning outside romp. Smelled like smoke.....Maybe he slipped off down South Bilbo Road and smoked some filter-less Pall Malls with that Tuxedo cat that lives right behind us. He's sort of a hoodlum. 

( I wonder how many of you reading this even know what a Pall Mall Red non-filter even is?) 

I cannot keep up with the news out of the Middle East. 

The Saudis and the Yemenis are the most recent news makers. The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, are a Zaydi revivalist and Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydis, whose namesake leadership is drawn largely from the al-Houthi family.  It traces its origins to the eighth-century teachings and rebellion of Zayd ibn Ali.

 I know, I lost you, just know,  they are a Shia group in Yemen, with ties to Iran. And is Iran is supporting them with weapons.....Which mean the Chinese are giving weapons to Houthis through Iran. 

They have been fighting with the Sunni Muslims in Saudi Arabia for centuries. 

The Sunnis are the Muslims, the royal family in Saudi Arabia. 

Right now, this group in Yemen see a weakness in Saudi Arabia and are taking advantage of it, by attacking the Saudi oil refineries, the oil field, the oil pipelines. Mostly using misslies and drones. 

If the Saudis  are not shipping/producing oil, and right now, they are not, the worldwide cost of oil, gasoline, diesel is going to rise. 

Especially diesel. 

I know many of you are going, but I drive a gas vehicle....

Trouble is, so much production and transportation in this nation runs on diesel. Or another product that is "fixing"( If I can go all East Texan) to be short in supply, aviation fuel. 

All 18-wheelers, all trains, and all nearly all, farm equipment.   

How much will products on the shelves go up as the cost of harvesting, shipping, goes up? Already they are talking about diesel going to be $10-12-15 a gallon in the USA. In Europe, they are talking $15-19. 

Heck, they are talking about gasoline being $8 gallon here in Texas. 

You want to talk about a ruined economy.  

A strong suggestion, if there are any products you may need in the future, canned good, or foods you can freeze, you may look at buying for the future. 

Likewise, you may want to keep a few extra cash dollars available. I do not know how stable the banks are going to be in the future. 

Already both Israel and the Saudis are looking to unite again the Yemenis, and in the southern portion of the Saudi peninsula it has become a ground war. Trouble is the Saudis have hired so many mercenary soldiers, if the war gets going bad, how many of the mercenaries will turn tail and leave the battlefield. 

As I write, the Saudis are bombing the Houthis and the Houthis are expanding into Saudi territory. The US is warning travelers  not to travel to that part of the Middle East. Why anyone with any sense would be going to the Middle East right now is beyond me?

Here is what scares me. 

Do not be shocked if Iran tests a nuclear weapon here in the next few months/weeks, either buying one, or with China's help, producing one. It's closer than you know. 

Get ready folks, Pandora's Box has been opened and I see no way to close it.  

 

 

 

  

 

 

Yeah Buna, Your Lazy A$$ Kid Could Have Too...But, Nepotism is Better?

 I got my butt kicked yesterday, and sometimes I need it too. 

Yeah,  I know, I started it, I need to finish it, or at least keep after it until I can no longer go. 

Let's upset some folks.

A candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission placed on his "X" or Twitter or whatever it is called this morning page a photo of University of Texas students celebrating Texas's victory over Ohio State in football this past Saturday evening. 

The picture had students wearing UT shirts, several of the kids wear cowboy hats. ( Sort of glad to see the cowboy hat come back. I have an Open Road Stetson hat in " silver belly" I need to start wearing once again in the Fall/Winter months. Look like a political consultant in Austin. )

All of the students were Asian.  

The candidate was implying that these kids were getting into Texas due to they being Asian. 

When asked, the kids had graduated from Texas high schools and were US Citizens. 

I know two kids who were/are in the same STEM ( Science Math Engineering Math )programs as these pictured kids. 

What were these kid's names? 

Hsu? Patel? Wang? 

No........Thomas. 

How'd they get into the STEM programs?

They worked their butts off. And both had jobs to help pay for expenses. 

They were studying when the kids griping about not getting into Texas were running around playing 12 hours worth of PS5....Smoking dope......Playing " Hide the hot  dog" with their boyfriend or girlfriend....And then gripe because the Asian kid had a 4.0 Grade Point Average and they had a 2.1 Barely a C average. 

But, so many of your kids take that C average, and hope their aunt or uncle or dad gets them a job with the school or business....

And we wonder why things like customer service sucks?

As one parent wrote me....

" I had to get my kids out of Buna ISD....It just isn't the same school academically like it was 15-25 years ago....." 

As one parent told me, it is going back to the old days of Buna Schools when the joke was......" All you need to do to graduate from Buna was to be able to say "TATER" and wave bye-bye....." 

 

 

It's Time to Cut Buna, Buna ISD, Southern Jasper County Loose.......

 15+ years to " Enuff." 

Just enough. 

I often wonder where I have gone wrong. I literally have cut myself off from many in the community. It's like and I often ask, " Why bother?" 

And we know that we are not going to write on topics that people will agree with. 

And we know that so many people in the community have put their heads in the sand just like an ostrich and " hope for the best" thinking that somehow it will all turn out okay, no matter in reality, it keeps getting worse and worse. And " they" literally take you for a naive, literal idiots.  

Or, you are too afraid to do anything. 

Perhaps the thing is, so many of you show your true colors concerning your children. 

The kids are just an after thought. They claim you love them, and God gave them to you, to train them to be adults, and  it is your job to take care of your kids, but that new $110,000 vehicle. That new boat, that second house at the lake, the beach, well, I need to take care of that material goods before my kid's well-being. 

And don't tell me otherwise. I've seen it. 

-I've been somewhat discouraged  and and might be time for me to step away from Buna, writing on the school district, because, well, sometimes  

After I see the only people who have signed up to run for school board are the incumbents, and because it is people already in office, and the position is uncontested, the District Clerk will cancel the election. 

I wish I could have backed someone in the election, but I cannot, I just can't. What happens when someone I back screws up royally?  I'll have to go after them, perhaps harder than one I did not support. 

After learning only incumbents were running, well, I've been pretty darn discouraged.  

Then, I was reminded of Isiah 49:4  "I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all; I have spent my strength for nothing at all-"

And while I am not from the community, my late Father was born and raised in Gist, my family was in the Gist area in the 1800s, and I have emotional ties and still have relations in that community.  ( I need to write a history....On my US Passport applications, when asked where your Father was Born, I always write, " Gist, Texas, USA.")

As dad said, the people in Buna proper see the people near the Orange County line as second class citizens, never mind there are some pretty good decent, moral folks who live off the Gist Road, many of which, I still call friends. ( And don't tell the "fancy folks" in Buna, if you can call them such, tell you that they don't look down on the folks out there.....)

I know Christ was discouraged and I am far from Jesus, but look at him, he was rejected by his own family and friends, especially in Nazareth.  ( Luke 4, Matthew 13, Mark 6) 

Maybe it's supposed to be this way. I have big tendencies that "  believe certain things are done for us to understand later."( John 13:7) 

Could be it is time for someone else to take up the fight....Could be, I need a break? 

We will see...... 

 

 

 

 

Special Request....I Need Some Prayers This Week......And You Need to Remind Me

 First, I need to talk about high school economics at some point. 

It has changed, and it is not the same economics as I taught you when I was still in the classroom....and it is for the bad and makes me have more questions than actual answers. 

Economics is not really what I taught. It is more personal finance. Including I was told, , they're supposed to teach you things such as how to write a check......I am a senior citizen. I cannot tell you the last time I wrote a check. Maybe 5 years ago. Perhaps longer. I think then, it was paying property taxes, even with them in 2026, we use some form of electronic transfer. I know I paid my Honda registration for the year cash, only because I had been given cash for officiating at a wedding and had the money in my billfold. ( Sorry, I've called it a billfold instead of a wallet for 70 years.)

In my opinion, economics from an academic point of view still needs to be taught. And why your parents have not spent the last 18 years teaching you how to run a household and its finances, well, my parents did, my parents parents did, and we taught Reid as he was growing up.....What happened? 

I have a theory....and it ain't good. We will write on it later with the changes to Texas high school history, government, geography, etc....Remind me to blog on this later in the next couple of weeks. 

It reminds me that I am so glad to be retired.  

- This week, Deb is having tests run at MD Anderson. Nothing new, just a follow up on a problem she has been treated for over the last few years, and the test itself is somewhat in a sensitive area. 

Prayers to the Divine the test runs smooth, that everything is still negative. That we won't have to be treated with chemo once again.  

Just going to Houston, driving to the Medical Center is not fun.  

Again, thank you for reading the blog.  

 

You're Crazy! This is to Disillusioned Buna ISD Patrons

 I had not planned to write today....Got up and the computer decided I need to listen to a mix of the singer Jewel and the band, Coldplay, and well, we just went with it. Then, I have this fat orange cat who has decided he needs to lay across the table between the keyboard and screen while I try and write this blog. 

Apparently he's a fan of  Coldplay. 

And I get messages all the time concerning my blogs concerning the Buna ISD. Most are pretty ugly. 

The last one told me that I am " crazy." 

To do this as long as I have, and going against the clique as it is known, I have to be somewhat " Not quite right." 

But, even as my child, I was "a little eccentric."  

Heck, I taught 17-18 year old people most of my life. It does cause a strain on you, both physically, and mentally. Talking for 7 hours a day gets tiring.....And then, having to be "out front" trying to figure out, catch what some 18 year old is about to pull all day, every day gets wearisome.  Especially mentally. 

You take on a government entity, and trust me, Buna ISD is one, and do it for 15+ years,  you get pretty thick skin. It also helps to actually believe in what you are writing about. 

Several of you have gotten blow-back from either the district or apologists for the school, and in truth,  it is to be expected. 

You have to remember the source(s) of the comments. 

Often they work for the district, or they have family/friends who collect a paycheck from the school district. 

If you're going to take on a government entity.  You are going to get to get fallout. If you get a lot like I often do, you have to look at it in this way, " Maybe I am actually doing some good." 

Keep after it, and let me reiterate. You're not going to ask these folks over for Thanksgiving dinner. You got to do what you think is right. 

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 

                                                                                                        Galatians 6:9 

And computer decided to play Soulja Boy...... Fred is looking like I am crazy because I know the lyrics.....

 

 

Okay Buna This is Twofold....One Serious....One, Well, What You Should Expect.....And it Ain't Good....

 This is serious. 

The State of Texas has removed 1.3 million people from the voter rolls in the state in the last few weeks. That is a pretty large number.

If you've not voted in a while, or you are paranoid of any government entity like I am, you may want to check and see if you are still registered to vote. 

You can check at the Texas Secretary of State's website at this link.  

And remember the last day to register to vote is Monday, October 5, 2026.  

" Just what the truth is, I can't say anymore." 

                                             -Nights in White Satin                                                                                                                                       -Moody Blues

-In the last 24 hours after the last blog, well, I have heard from more people concerning their kids and the Buna Schools.  

Kids want out, parents want the kids out, many urgently looking at another school in which to place their children. 

Some so disillusioned that their kids are going to schools that, well, I would not have sent Reid to on a bet. But desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.  

Then, there are people trying to explain what is actually going on in the district be in the property tax rate,  those trying to explain why they are removing their kids from the district , getting criticized by the school district apologists. 

You must remember, the district employees a large number of people in the community. And they, their family want to keep receiving a paycheck from the district. 

As the Cantonese Chinese would say..." Don't want to break the rice bowl. " ( Outside of the Cantonese coastal areas of China, Hong Kong South, the Chinese mostly eat noodles as a staple. I spent a month in Kunming and this is how many times I had rice.....0 )

Right or in many cases, wrong, they will defend the district. 

And you got to remember, you yourself have to do what is right for your bottom line, your kids....You got to remember, how many people criticizing you, well, you were not going fishin' with them......You're not going to be sitting around a campfire with most of these people smoking an H. Upmann,  drinking a  couple of cool ones.....

Sometimes, you have to do what is right for you and your family. 

As one parent wrote me, their high school age student told them since they left Buna , " My mental health is so much better now." 

Then, there was this....From a couple of parents....Two separate school districts... 

" The teachers in the new district act professional." 

 Again, a school district is a taxing government entity. It really doesn't care about you or your kid in the end. ( Individual teachers actually do. It is why we teach...and many of us have a love/hate relationship with the district in which we work.)

Many of us know what the school district can be.....We saw it first hand.....It's why I write the blog. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buna Schools Hemorrhaging Students?

 I ain't going to lie, I had to look up how to spell "Hemorrhaging" correctly. Spell check couldn't get it correct. 

And thank those of you who have checked on us during the storm. So far, we have maintained lights, and are thankful for it. 

The story coming out of the Buna ISD is the number of students who have left the district, school year 2026-2027. 

From a couple of different sources, the district has supposedly lost 139 students or about 9.5% of the student body.  

10% loss would make any business in the real world to sit up and pay attention. The business leadership would look up and go, " What do we need to change?" " Where do we cut?"

In many cases, leadership is the first to go. It's under the leader realm that we are losing "customers" in this case, pupils. 

And while a government entity is not run like a business, sometimes you need to look at school like a business. What do we need to change? And the voting public needs to look at what/who needs to go.....

The apologists for the last couple of years have told me, the new present leadership will make Buna ISD a desirable district for parents to move to and bring their students. 

( I do not think you know how much grief I have gotten over the last couple of years criticizing the present school district leadership. Being someone's buddy often clouds one's judgement. ) 

Yeah, tell the parents of the 139 who have left the district how great leadership is.....

Working on a blog to explain the "lower" ISD property tax rate......Don't take everything a government entity says at "face value." 

 

So, Ex-Students, I Was Minding My Own Business......Giving up on Buna ISD?????

 Proving I will listen listen to pretty much any type music, I am listening to Estonian "Pop Music" this morning.....Yeah, I have an eclectic taste in music. 

This morning I get up for 'Morning Prayer' felt really good afterward, and I do my normal routine....Check the weather, check the overnight news, put on some music, and check Facebook,  and often FB stops me dead in my tracks. 

I see that a former student is talking about how their child has a 100 in their Economics's Class.  But the child is going to school in Hardin County. I don't want to know what is going on in Hardin County educational or governmental authorities.....

And that the class was nothing like Gov/Eco back in the day, with my teaching....

Education is so different than when I was teaching, and I have said this many times before, I could not teach in 2026. 

I could not be the Mr. Thomas you had when I was teaching school. I seriously would be sent home at about 9am. 

They'd have me explaining why I "bled like a stuck pig" on your essays......Why I put you in the hallway....Why we had a " Cuss Porch."  

Heck, I couldn't have the mess and bologna we had going on in Gov/Eco class.  I know I often picked and teased in classes, and I did it to one student so much I stopped. I better quit I told myself......About a week after I stopped she came by after class and asked, " Mr. Thomas are you mad at me?" 

I'd have to be " Nice." ( I'll look in Webster's and see what the term " Nice" means.....) 

No, the kids, the parents, society has changed dramatically since I retired. It is part of the reason why I do not hardly leave the house anymore. I don't have to "put up with it" anymore, so I just stay away. 

It's like, at some point I will give up on Buna Schools, declare it an officially a " Lost Cause" and try and not look back.  

But not yet.  ( At some point I will decide it's so FUBAR I need to just stop for my own sanity. )

 I could just about see what would happen when today's Seniors found out I liked tobacco, alcohol, firearms.....Again, they'd let me go in 2026. 

No, since the COVID fiasco, the world changed. And don't tell me it hasn't. And it has messed up more kids than we want to admit, and education, good or bad, has adjusted to the kids in 2026. And perhaps not in a good way. 

Old Kerry Don, while he sometimes misses it, couldn't do it today.....BTW- The lectures this week in Government class would be " British Backgrounds."