We Really Love You Buna, Buna ISD.....BUT D*mn

 Somehow people think I hate the people of Buna, the district, and I had some things happen to me that left a sour taste in my mouth, but for years after I left, I recommended people who were looking for a rural setting to raise their kids the Buna ISD. ( I had sour things happen at every ISD I worked at....)

And everything I say about Buna is, well, I really want the community, the ISD to do well. If I did not love Buna Schools, I had more than one opportunity to leave. And had senior classes that made me wonder if I should move to another district I wouldn't have to go to proms, sponsor Jingle Ball Balls, BHS Homecoming Parades, graduations, NHS, UIL Academics. etc., etc.....And make more money....But, I actually liked y'all, even though I pissed you off then....and now...

I catch hell by people in the community when we get on KJAS ( Now the podcast) and get onto Buna. Jay and I both want the community to be a star in the crown, not a blemish. 

Look, as I said above for years, I bragged on the Buna ISD, the community to my friends in Mid-County, Orange County. I now have a friend who travels from up Hwy 62 to the lake every weekend, and all he talks about is " The burned out building, behind the bank." 

It doesn't take long to lose all the "good will" I thought I had done for the community....

Likewise with the Buna ISD.

Lot of the patrons are unhappy with the education going on. 

Now I know, there will always be more unhappy people, but I have gotten more negative feedback concerning Buna ISD. And I know there are still good people working at Buna Schools, 

I taught what 3-4 members of the Buna ISD Board of Trustees, and as one person wrote me, it seems like a " Rudderless ship." 

Look, when you hire a superintendent from outside the area, hundreds of miles from outside the area, no matter what they may tell the Board, no matter what they may tell the faculty, no matter what they tell the patrons of the community, they are going to use little 3A Buna ISD as a stepping stone.

I know some of you realize this, but a large number of you are somehow naive to the process.

Don't be hoodwinked in the process.

Look, superintendent of schools are often politicians.  5 years from now, I doubt the now Supt. of Wichita Falls ISD can even name anyone actually from Buna he worked with.....And they could care less. 

He " brought his people in" for positions of administration......Heck, in coaching jobs. 

What the hell kind of person leaves their job the first day of school? Hell, teachers would have their teacher's certificates pulled for such stunts, and my understanding the now Supt. of Wichita Falls ISD did that to people who tried to leave when he was in Buna.  

Allegedly, the Head Football Coach is already looking to leave at the end of the season. 

How is supposed to inspire the kids? Coach don't want to be here. How can he get " pumped up" for the Orangefield game, hell, he's not been here long enough to understand some of the hatred of O-Field. The Juniors and Sophomores will have a new head ball coach in Fall of '23. The entire program will have a new look. How many new coaches/teachers will the head new ball coach bring in? How many guys will lose their jobs, and they too are now looking for new positions? And is the new ball coach be one of these guys looking for his next job up the ladder of success? 

All I see the former Buna leader did was alienate much of the faculty, leave and take with him administrators at the start of a school year. 

I worry about Buna. I worry about the district.  

Some of you need to "take the blinders off" and look around. 

 

 

Okay Buna HS Class(es) of 1995 to 2011- This One's for You

 So, Jay came up with this and the more I thought about it, I liked the idea. 

As many of you know, Not on the Payroll is transitioning from terrestrial to more online.....We're on YouTube, Bumble...and more of a podcast than a radio show. For several reason....1. The old Govteach doesn't have to put a sign up in front of a microphone that says " Do Not Cuss!!! " 2. Jay and I get together and can go 2 hours discussing whatever  and not have to give a good damn about who we upset. 3. We can reach more people online than we can, plus you can watch anytime you want, not just 7PM on Thursdays.  

What we are proposing is a reunion Zoom call. 

Jay and I are already doing the show from the comfort of our homes, heck Jay did the show on his porch yesterday with his chickens. ( Yeah, sometimes it is old fashion " Redneck Radio....I often am remind by someone near to my heart that" You're pretty much a hillbilly with an education who likes Britain, and trust me, get outside the UK cities and they are pretty close to us.)

Not sure if we want to go by single classes, a couple of classes at a time, 5 years......Or everyone all at once. It is going to depend on the feedback we receive.

The logistics and times are still to be determined. 

Anyway, might be good to see/hear from a bunch of you. 

Hell, tell some old stories from back in "the day." Might be that time some of you can tell stories about your crazy-ass gubmint teacher. 

The show will of course be put on YouTube, Bumble etc.....

So, if you are interested, let us know, and if you would spread this around. Post it on your FB or tell folks what we are planning to do....

We would love for you to join us on a Zoom.

The Statute of Limitations has Run Out on This Buna-

 I get all sorts of messages in the morning. Many through texts, some old fashion email( Who would have thought email is now "old fashion?") but most through Facebook messages.

And I am glad to help answer your question(s) the best I know how. 

I had several questions this morning and did the best to answer all of them.

-Men, remember, first suit of clothes needs to be Navy Blue, with Charcoal Grey being a close second, that said, I often wear a Navy Pinstripe because, well, I'm an Anglophile and pinstripes are associated with British economics. And it pisses off my own child, the graduate of the University of Texas Red McComb's School of Business beyond all words. The pinstripe apparently is too Edwardian for modern business. 

-There's always crazy-ass proposals before the Texas State Board of Education. They don't the light of day. (That said, I often went way outside of the TEKS when I taught y'all. I saw stuff you had missed being taught years earlier and made up for it. Sometimes I went off into the math, English areas......I wasn't supposed to do so, but the statute of limitations has run its course and in truth, if I'd been called on it while teaching, well, I wouldn't have changed anything. I just would have gone about it in a different way.  )

- Then someone asked me this morning if I could, or would do a marriage for a couple who are non-Christian. 

Of course. I'm never going to ask motives or religion of a person who gets married. 

- And finally, yes, I will go to prayer for you, I cuss, I fuss, I do things I was taught as a Baptist not to do, but I still get up pretty early in the morning nearly every day to pray. 

I may need to do an economics blog in the near future-

 

I Had Hope

 Well, when we went to China in 2018 for the kid's wedding, I had hope.

No longer.

It looks like we are going to to the old status of the West versus both China and Russia.

I don't know what happened. Too many people wanting too much to be in control and be famous in historical terms is my guess. 

I worry about my daughter-in-law.

Yes, she has a "green card" and can stay here permanently, but I sure would want her to become a US Citizen. Trouble is, she don't know shit about American history and government.  And to pass the US Citizenship test, well, it is going to take some hard work probably on my part, because I'll be starting from nothing. ( She didn't know who America fought for its independence.....Then again, I have a history degree and about 30 hours of grad work in various history and what I know about Chinese history I couldn't fill up a teacup.....On the other hand I can list in order every English King and Queen since Alfred the Great in 866AD.......I can tell you where every American President went to college, if they went.)

Watch the world stage the next few weeks folks. It might get hot, especially over this Taiwan situation....and if so, the economy might really be in trouble.

Uvalde

 I know, it is almost 2 months after the event happened in South Texas. 

And generally, I am pro-police, but damn, the more I see on this event, the more I think " Man the police screwed the pooch on this one."

At some point almost 400 police officers were on the school campus before the classroom with the shooter was breached. 

And so many stories from the police leadership on scene turned out to be false.....

I am shocked that people that have kept their jobs? It is like they are afraid to fire police leadership....I am also shocked at the members of the Uvalde ISD School Board who seem to care more about their own personal "Honor" that the kids who were killed on the campus they are suppose to govern.  

And if you take a job in law enforcement you know it is dangerous, and you may need to put yourself into dangerous positions. Hell, I knew as a teacher there were would scary times, like when I took a knife away from a kid who had just stabbed Joe ***** in the upper chest in the " Commons" at Dayton High. I still have dreams about that event. He was about to stab Joe a second time. Thank God, little Tim Gaissett( Brand new asst. principal) arrived right after I grabbed the kid and jump into the fray. I'm not bragging, I'm no hero, hell, I wasn't even thanked by school administration afterwards. It was expected. 

You know sometimes if you can't do the job, you need to quit.

It makes you wonder and worry about kids this Fall. How many other crazies are out there ready to pull a mass shooting event at some school(s)? Will there be a repeat by police?( I don't see it now.......Now)

It really makes you wonder about not ever carrying your firearm, even in a run down to DQ for a " Happy Hour" Dr Pepper. 

 

Probably in Trouble With the US Government....

 Or, my paperwork will be slowed down, which I expect, and it's already been slowed down. 

So, I turn 65 in the next month, which means I am eligible for senior citizen government programs. 

This morning, I got a phone call checking to make sure I am eligible for these programs. 

The person asking the questions.....

Had a man's first name.....

Sounded like a man over the telephone. 

So, when they asked questions, I answered to the affirmative, " Yes Sir." 

To which the government employee let it know to me they were neither a " Sir or a Ma'am" and that the correct answer would be " Yes" or "No." 

And they were a bit "snippy" informing me. 

It made a bit difficult because I was raised as a "sign of respect" to say " Yes Sir, Yes Ma'am." 

I had a hard time because a couple of times I would normally say, " Thank you sir." 

I am going to have a hard time here folks. Especially to you Non-Binary people who have dozens of pronouns that could be used addressing you. And I know some of you want to be critters and stuffed Pandas, and azalea flowers and whatever. 

I really don't care who you want to have sex with...( As long as it is adults 18+....and I have a problem with you screwing dogs or goats because let's face it, that's just nasty. ) 

But I don't know, there is certain etiquette I was taught to follow, that well, I probably will never change. 

Believe It....Or NOT!!!!!

 I saw a story on YouTube where girls were paying for dates now, or at least "Going Dutch" in order to avoid having to " Put-Out" in exchange for the boy paying for the date. 

Not going to lie, I was somewhat stunned. 

In my dating days, I never expected sex from a girl for me paying for dinner, no matter how expensive the meal might have been. 

Heck, I no longer understand the dynamics of dating, then again, I've not gone on a date not with my wife in over 40 years. 

When I was dating, I was often just hoping for a kiss on the porch " goodnight" and often, even that didn't happen. As I have written, I fell off a porch into the azalea bushes trying to kiss a girl goodnight after our 3rd date. 

And as I have written, my wife asked me out on our first date. Of course after a Lamar football game, I had about 25¢ to my name and she paid for Dr. Peppers, and chili-cheese tots we got from Sonic. 

I did "pony-up" and we went out to Patrizi's ( Was a very nice restaurant near where Outback is in Beaumont today....Vic and Al Patrizi have been long gone.) and I remember having wood fire grilled flounder. Deb had a seafood pasta that had octopus as one of the seafoods. 

We were both college kids and did not have a lot of money and most of our dates involved going to our houses( parents house) and hanging out. I do know, I playing a lot of football and wiffle ball with her brothers and the kids in the neighborhood. Heck her dad and 70+ year old grandfather often played in the tournaments we'd have in her backyard. Deb played as did the brother's female friends in the neighborhood.....I remember Deb's Mom laughing one evening and telling me that her brothers both asked " When is Kerry coming back over?" I remember she would often go and bass fish we me and my parents at Toledo Bend. 

I don't know if it normal, but it seemed normal for us. 

And we often had time alone, in a vacant house for several hours, just me and her, and yes, we kissed....But never wound up in the bedroom, even though it was available to us. 

About 8th-9th grade my dad talked to me about " Do you want to take something from a girl who you may not be with forever?" " Likewise, do you want to lose something to someone that special that you don't belong to forever?"

Now I understand people see this as old fashion, and in this day and age silly. I don't expect you to be this way, I didn't even expect this of my son as people today might be 30+ before they marry, but in my case, it made sense. 

I know some people see it hypocritical to expect their wife to be a virgin, but if I had ever had sex with another person, my wife would not have married me. That's how important it was to her.

I don't know, that is how special we thought it should be to your forever partner. 

I know this is not for everyone. And even in my younger years, it was a bit to ask of people, but for us, it was important. And so we waited. ( And I had plenty of opportunities before I met my wife, so don't even think that. I had an adult student from Switzerland who wanted me to move back to Lugano, Ticino so she could " teach me." I was 21, she was 30. I need to tell that story one day. Naive me didn't "get it.")

Was it difficult to wait?

Very much so. 

And again, this is not for everyone. 

But for us, we are/were so glad we waited until we married. Emotionally, spiritually( and not necessarily from a religious point of view) it , well, sort of was/is special to us......It was like " I saved this for you, and only you,

But I am somewhat shocked disappointed, whatever that girls now have to pay for a date in order not to have to " go to bed" with the person they just went out on a date with. 

And I know, there is a another world for boys/girls looking for potential mates......I will write on this in my next blog.