Wow, She's Huge

So the Andromeda galaxy is bigger than scientists previously thought.  Its one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way in our little universe, a mere two million light years from earth (a hop, skip, and jump in galactic terms, which makes me feel like I should actually be writing about Star Wars). 

One of the things that I’m astounded by is the way that some people throw their entire being behind what we know today.  Every day we are learning more about how our bodies work, how the earth functions, the food that we eat and whether its bad (eggs) or good (oh wait, eggs go here too) for us, and just about everything else that we study.  It is generally stated that our collective knowledge of everything has doubled in the last twenty years.  The world wide web doubles every year.  The total amount of information in the world doubles every five years now.  With all of this information flowing, we make assumptions and hypotheses about the future, and how things are today in our lives, the universe, and everything.  Some scientists put forth that the earth is warming up, leading to massive climate change that will destroy the earth.  Others defend that cell phones cause all kinds of awfulness.  Yesterday, the sun was bad for you, but today, scientists believe that it might be essential in fighting cancer.  Then there’s this whole site. 

As with everything in life, don’t believe something just because someone who looks intelligent says it.  Science, politics, religion, and everything falls into this category.  Do some searching on your own, you’ll be better for it.

Because hey, I really have no idea what I’m talking about here anyway either.

Let the blogging resume!

Tomorrow.

Nice weekend, thank you very much.  Memorial Day was even ok too, except for the rain.  And the lightning.  And the rain.

Deceptive Headlines

So you looked at the newspaper rack while down at Sparkle today?  Did you notice the big headline on the Record Courier?  Official: Dark day for public education.  What could this terrible, awful, end of the world news be?  Two hundred fifteen districts will have their state funding frozen for two years.  [cue dire music]  OH THE AWFUL HORROR!

The whole article is actually a pretty good piece on the ups and possible downs to the education side of the state budget currently being considered in the State House (which I astutely blogged about yesterday, pay attention here folks).  You can read the article here if its still available online.  I’ll be quoting from my trusty newsprint copy.  There’s nothing like the stains that ink leaves on your fingers, ahh sweet newsprint.

School advocates

democrats

say they are concerned that a version of the two-year state budget under consideration in the GOP-led Ohio Senate

evil right wing conservatives that only want to kill your children, ok, that’s enough introduction

provides no additional funds over this year for more than one-third of the school districts in the state

after a majority of districts have seen their funding cut in the last two years, this is not a bad thing at all

School advocates

democrats (sorry, I can’t help myself)

say they’re also worried that the proposed two-year, $51.2 billion spending plan that would take effect July 1 doesn’t give more money to public schools in metropolitan areas for higher business costs and doesn’t reimburse school longer for revenue they would have received from businesses taxes that would be phased out.

trust me, that might make sense later.

don’t hold your breath though.

“We’re gravely concerned,” said Fred Pausch, director of legislative affairs for the Ohio School Boards Association

democrat

which represents boards of education across the state.  “This is a dark day for public education right now,” Pausch said.

We have a headline!  Seriously though, its the end of the world because metropolitan schools won’t get a few tens of thousands of dollars because it costs more to drive there?  Have we forgotten the concept of getting a levy passed?  It seems that Mr. Pausch would like the state to make up for some districts’ inability to get a levy passed for operating funds.  That’s not entirely the state’s responsibility, the large part of the responsibility lays within the district itself.

“The bottom line is they’re not investing enough money in education,” said Tom Mooney, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, which represents about 20,000 teachers in local unions around the state.

democrat, but you likely guessed that already.  I’ve often wondered, how much money is enough money to invest in education?  No one has ever actually given a number as to how much that is.  Its always “we need more” or “its not enough”.  How much is enough?  The problem is that if someone answers that question with a definite number, someone will actually give it to them, and they’ll have nothing to complain about.

The Senate’s version of the state budget, which is pending in the Senate Finance Committee, freezes state funding for 215 school districts at this year’s levels in both budget years. 

you might want to strap yourselves in for this next statement

No school district would receive a cut from this year’s funding levels, under the Senate’s budget version.

those dirty Republicans are taking more money away…wait…what did he say?  No cuts at all?  Well they must be cutting something, being evil and all.  No?  What am I going to complain about now? 

According to documents, the Senate’s version of the budget would pump $6.2 billion into state aid to schools in the budget’s first year – a 2.2 percent increase from current funding levels.

Mind if I spew my coffee all over my keyboard in disbelief?  could it be that Republicans are actually spending money on education?  This shakes my entire world-view.  (and for you folks wondering, this is called sarcasm)

The Senate’s version of the budget would spend $6.3 billion on state aid to schools in the plan’s second year, a 1.8 percent bump over the first year, state documents show.

Feel free to pass out now.  Yes folks, that means they’re putting even more money into the system.  Don’t forget the mantra though, its not enough, its not enough, we need more, we need more, feed the beast, me hungry.

Public schools with large numbers of poor children would also get more aid.

Windham

The Senate’s version of the budget would focus resources on the most impoverished schools

Windham

by providing $896 million in poverty-based assistance over the two-year budget period, state documents show.

impressive.  Directed help, a novel concept.  Give money to the districts that really need it.  wonder where they came up with that one?

The Senate’s version fo the budget, if passed, also would implement a new method of funding schools by using a “building blocks” approach that funds specific amounts for teacher salaries, professional development, student intervention and other items instead of the current method of using statistical formulas.

Statistical formulas are a horrible way to disperse funds in a school system, because of the very nature of such systems.  Need is not always confined to one area, and the formulas cannot account for these fluctuations.  Anything would be better, and hopefully this idea will work.

“It makes it pretty clear,” said state Sen. Joy Padgett, a Coshocton Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.

Padgett, who also sits on the finance committee, said the Senate’s budget version better directs resources in student intervention.

“It makes the intervention model more targeted,” Padgett said.

And that’s the basic problem with formulas.  Students don’t always adhere to their proscribed form of conduct.  Stinking free will.

At  least one Senate Democrat, however, said the plan doesn’t go far enough for schools.

“Teachers continue to be laid off under this budget and programs continue to get slashed,” said state Sen. Charlie Wilson, a St. Clairsville Democrat who sits on the Senate Finance Committee.

Charlie’s a nice guy actually, I met him a few years back.  Voted against him though, he did have that whole Democrat thing going against him.  Its true, teacher do continue to be laid off.  Programs are continuing to be cut.  Can we expect the state (read, you and me) be expected to pay for the failure of other school districts when it comes to the passage of operating and replacement levies?  There comes a point when the shifting of wealth (and lack of it) has to stop.

School advocates

ok, one last time.  Democrats.

criticized the Senate’s budget plan, saying it eliminates the so-called “cost of doing business factor,” money provided to schools in urban areas to pay for a higher cost of labor.

Is it just me or is this really stretching for more money? 

“That was the public-policy decision made by the state legislature a while ago, now they just kind of abandoned that philosophy,” The OSBA’s Pausch said.  “There are a lot of districts out there that won’t see any growth.  They’re not going to see any growth on their state dollars.”

After seeing the local school board fight tooth and nail to get their levy passed, I feel little pity for these school districts right now.  Have them make their case to their own taxpayers and see if this kind of thing really holds water.

“The biggest problem with (the Senate version of the budget) is it plants some time bombs down the road, the most destructive being the loss of business property taxes by local districts,” the OFT’s Mooney said.

How many times have we heard that the State Supreme Court has demanded that state schools not be funded based on property taxes?  It is an unfair way to be funded (according to the Court).  That’s exactly what this budget is setting forth, a different way to be funded not based on property taxes (which are being phased out completely to help businesses supposedly).

Under the Senate version of the budget, tangible personal property taxes levied on business machinery and equipment, inventory, furniture and fixtures would be phased out over four years.

-by Jeff Ortega, Record-Courier capital bureau

Well there you have it.  The article itself is a nice little conglomerate of information, which I have kindly sifted for you.  You want real numbers for Windham?  The Record Courier has kindly provided some of them.  In the first year of the new budget (if passed, of course), Windham would receive a 6.3 percent increase in funding.  In the second year of the new budget, the increase would be a total of 6.7 percent.  Windham presently recieves $6,382 per student (this includes all kinds of funding, a list too long to put here).  In the first year, that will increase $402 per student to $6,784 per.  In the second year, there would be a bump of $122 to the tune of $6,906 per student.  On that basis alone, this is a pretty good budget for us.

 

Ohio State Tax Reform

Heard anything about it?  Neither have I.  It seems as if Governor Taft, who’s been a pretty run of the mill governor overall, and I’m even giving him marks for being Republican, has a plan.  Of course, we all know its the plan that was pretty much fed to him by his economists, because none of these folks really comes up with these things themselves.  Who is it exactly that decides that shepherds should receive a 1.7% tax break anyway?  Is there some Shepherd Control that cam be reached to divine the interests of this vital voting bloc?  Has anyone run a poll, because those things are always fun to read.

Taken from Jobs for Ohio - Tax Reform

 5.3 million Ohio taxpayers will see a personal income tax cut.

this is good

550,000 low-income Ohioans will have their income tax burden eliminated.

why isn’t this number higher?  because there’s already 5,000,000 Ohioans who don’t pay tax anyway, this puts it at around 5,550,000.  nifty

300,000 small Ohio business owners who pay taxes through the personal income tax will see their tax rate cut by 21 percent - bringing the top rate to 5.9 percent.

not exactly ideal, i’d like it at around 5.5% or less.  small business is the heart of a small community such as ours and should not be heavily burdened by the state

13,000 Ohio businesses will no longer pay the machinery and equipment tax. This tax penalizes capital investments and expansion, and particularly affects Ohio's manufacturers, who directly or indirectly employ half of all Ohioans.

a nice step, but not an incredibly huge help, sounds good on paper, but that’s just about it

40,000 Ohio businesses will no longer pay the manufacturers' and retailers' inventory tax.

ideally, this will directly lead to lower prices in stores, because the tax burden will be lower

250,000 small and emerging Ohio businesses will pay only the $100 minimum fee of the new Commercial Activity Tax.

this is a useless tax and should be done away with

$555 - The amount an average Ohio family of four will see their state personal income and sales tax burden reduced annually.

what the heck is an “average Ohio family”?  I thought I had one and I didn’t pay that much in taxes last year

Another rather cool point…

 Reduce today's sales tax rate from six percent to 5.5 percent, effective July 1, 2005.

This totally rocks, any reduction in tax is a good reduction in tax, especially across the board like this one.  perhaps the village would consider instituting a 0.5% sales tax here in town to replace it.  we as consumers would never notice the difference and I guarantee that other towns in Ohio would consider the same thing if this issue passes

And now the downside

Increase the cigarette tax by 45 cents, bringing the per-pack tax to $1.

Increase tax on other tobacco products from 17 percent to 30 percent.

Double the tax on alcoholic beverages.

I don’t drink.  I don’t smoke.  I think these three taxes are just about the most unfair things in the tax system.  The original logic of “sin taxes” was to get people to quit.  Noble cause mind you, but absolutely horrible in the follow-through.  Why don’t we take 2% milk and put a $1.00 tax on it?  More people drink milk than smoke cigarettes and we’d make a whole bunch more revenue on it.  How about Pepsi (because I’m a Coke man)?  Tax that 20 oz. bottle 35 cents.  Taste of a new generation my eye.

Ahh well, one can never be happy with a tax code I guess.  Maybe they’ll change it a bit before it hits the governor’s desk.  At least we’ll be paying less overall next year, and maybe it will help change a few things around the state.  You never know.

Scary

Blog entry leads to solving a murder.

Read it here.

When things wind down

Wow, is there anything going on in Windham lately?

Aside from the girls softball team winning the PCL

And the boys baseball team doing well in the playoffs

And Dairy Mart getting held-up

And the Pharmacy being sold

And Vi’s possibly looking for a new owner

And the whole thing about the future of the Police force

And project housing being cleared out on Community

And this freakish cold weather.

 

Nope, not much going on.

Ahh well

Seems as if the RINO’s have won the day, though not to all that much surprise from me.  Certainly I’d hoped to at least have some fun with filibuster busting or something, simply because its an awesome phrase to say, but nonetheless.

Captain's Quarters blog - "Deal Reached? (Live Blog)"

Saad and Myers have been “tossed under the bus” for no real good reason except that minority of Senators disliked them.  I don’t remember voting for that.  Weird.

Historically, Republicans have taken the high road when it came to judicial nominations of Democratic presidents, even when they were rather hard to swallow.  On the same token, Democrats have nearly always taken the low road when it came to unpalatable Republican presidents’ nominations.  Remember the notable Robert Bork?  How about Clarence Thomas?  Thomas made it through by the skin of his teeth because the Democrats couldn’t make any of the charges against him stick.  They had to vote him through just to not look like abject racists, or morons, take your pick. 

I do not expect the Republicans to take the low road if/when they are in the minority in the Senate.  (Yeah, I suppose that it could happen someday, don’t plan on it though.)  They’ve not shown that characteristic ever before.  Heck, they don’t filibuster anything, much less judicial nominees. 

In the end, its not the end of the world or anything, just a demonstration that there are still way too many people who think that “we should all just get along”.  We wouldn’t want to get our nicely polished shoes dirty now would we?

 

I never....

As a rule:

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever blindly trust any poll that you see in any media form, whether it be television, newspaper, Internet, or radio.

Ever.

Chicago Tribune article

 Transparency is crucial if the media plan to market polls as truth.

To give credit to the pollsters, many are now releasing their data as links to companion articles on the Internet. It's a step forward.

However, none of the demographic breakdowns or shifts in these polls were mentioned in the news reports, and I suspect the reason for that is because the media never questioned the data to begin with.

As a result, the opportunity for honest debate was lost.

Its a nice little article.  Nod of the head to Instapundit for the link.

Sometimes you just have to wonder

So you say you heard the fire sirens go off this afternoon around 4:30?  Want to know what those good men were being called to? 

Someone thought it would be a good idea to start a fire on the corner of Wolf and Parkman Road.  Want to know what surrounds the entire area that they were burning in?  Trees.  Want to know what happens to trees when a fire is started close to them?  They burn.  Want to know why the fire department was called out?  No, you go ahead and just guess.

Drive by sometime and see the brilliance of some people at work.

Its good to be missed

You know, I guess I never really thought about it too much, and for no real reason, but have you ever just kind of wandered away from something?  Perhaps you thought that no one would notice, or something simply took precedence at the time, and you never really went back to the things that were going on before.  It is oddly comforting, kind of like flattering, but more subdued I guess, to know that someone noticed that I was gone.  Most of you folks who read these words have no idea what I’m talking about.  If that’s the case, imagine putting puppies in blenders or something.  There’s always a baby seal that needs to be clubbed, you know that’s the favorite pasttime of all Evil Conservatives. 

Anyway, to all you from the Beach House who noticed, and the Acmericans who did the same, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Just don’t get cocky about it.

Dangerous, thrilling, and at least here....safe.

Its a hit, really!

The Carnegie Hero Fund

A friend of mine lost her father a few summers ago.  He died rescuing someone who’d been pulled away from shore by a riptide.  He was posthumously awarded the Carnegie Hero award.  He is missed.

 William Eugene Jones
Jonesboro, Georgia

William Eugene Jones died after helping to save a girl from drowning, Panama City Beach, Florida, July 2, 2003. While wading in the Gulf of Mexico, two 17-year-old girls screamed for help as a strong current pushed them farther from shore. Warning flags had been posted on the beach, as surf conditions were rough from the passage of a tropical storm two days earlier. From the beach, Jones, 54, national distribution manager, and others heard the cries and responded to the waterline. Jones and others then ran into the water and began to swim toward the girls. Jones reached one of them and pushed her toward another responding rescuer, who then started toward shore with her. A responding police officer rescued the girls, and one of the other rescuers, with the use of a personal watercraft. Jones, meanwhile, was seen floating farther from shore, and he was recovered by others. He was taken to the hospital, where he died of drowning.

Source

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission

Let's play a game!

(I posted this at Redstate.org, so I thought I’d post it here also)

Let's play....

<corny gameshow music>

WHO SAID IT?

</corny gameshow music>

According to the U.S. Constitution, the president nominates, and the Senate shall provide advice and consent. It is not the role of the Senate to obstruct the process and prevent numbers of highly qualified nominees from even being given the opportunity for a vote on the Senate floor.

That's right kids, its Barbara Boxer back on May 14, 1997.  I'm looking forward to her support of the Republicans on this issue.

Who's the longer talker?

Because that’s what filibusters are really all about.  Yeah, you’re probably sick and tired of hearing this term tossed about on various and sundry talking heads shows.  I am, and if for no other reason, I hope that the filibuster rule is ended when it comes to judicial nominees.  It really would give some of those folks more to talk about, especially when it comes to more stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with me.  Did you know that about 35 years ago, Senator Byrd of West Virginia filibustered something, can’t remember what, it was before my time don’t you know, and he simply picked up a phone book and began to read names out of it?  Its fascinating stuff really.

Anyway, the media is all up in arms because the Republicans in the Senate are likely going to vote to stop the filibuster.  The problem is that what the talking heads are saying isn’t exactly so.  The Republicans do want to stop the filibuster, but only in the specific case of “giving advice and consent” to the President’s judicial nominees.  It would still be able to be used in every other case, and to be honest, the Republicans would be foolish to eliminate it entirely.  But that’s exactly not what they are doing.

The Democrat side of the opinion is trying to skew the talk to make people believe that the Republicans are taking the whole thing away from them, and that’s simply an outright lie.  The only hope that they have at this point is turning popular opinion from “why the heck should we care” to “hey, that’s not quite right” and to do that, they are appealing to the people that just aren’t paying all that much attention.  Don’t be taken in by the deception.

Senate rules are set down by Senators to guide their day to day activities.  Some decided way back when that the President should have sixty Senators to consent in allowing a judge to take his or her place on the bench.  Its a good rule, no doubt.  The Republicans want to change that rule back to the original (and implied by the Constitution) count of a simple majority of fifty percent plus one.  The only reason to change it is to get their preferred nominees through.  The only reason to not change it is to let the minority rule, and prevent the nominees being placed on the bench.  The Constitution directs the Senate to advise and consent the President’s judicial nominees.  No where is a directive given as to the majority required for the vote.  It does specifically mention that a 2/3 majority is required in matters of impeachment and overriding a veto.  We can imply that because there is no “supermajority” mentioned in the case of advising and consenting of nominees, that the original framers considered a simple majority to be enough.  That’s what the Republicans want to return to. 

Windham Village Council Meeting - May 10, 2005 - 7:00 P.M.

The Minutes for this Council meeting have been removed temporarily. They will be restored upon approval by Village Council at the June meeting.

I think this is the first time that "there's gotta be a law against that" has worked against me. Argh!

update!

The Minutes are going back up. The Code does not specify that Minutes are not public record until they are approved by the Council. They are to be open to public inspection "promptly".

But we do have a disclaimer.


These Minutes are subject to change. They may be amended to more accurately show the Village Council's actions at the meeting of which they describe. They will be discussed, amended, and approved at the June, 2005 Village Council meeting.

Ahh, now we all feel better now.

Tip of the hat to Mark Manlove, Village Solicitor for discussing the Code and existing case law with me.

MINUTES

Mayor Starkey called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call: Present: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard

There were no minutes of the April meeting due to the illness of Shelly Craine. Shelley has been out of the office since Friday and hopes to be able to return on Thurs

Jim Moore provided the Police & Fire Reports.

Mayor Starkey counted 21 outside contractors in a five hour period. He is strongly encouraging council to enact a registration fee of $100 for each contractor working in the Village. We need to talk about how to enforce and to be sure income tax is being paid. He also shared concern that the gaming machines locations are not paying their $10.00 per machine licensing fee.

Finance Committee Chairperson, M Garrett, distributed the Finance Committee notes. She had no reconciled financial reports to distribute for approval, however, did indicate a $67,000 balance in the General Fund as of 4–30–05 and has directed our fiscal officer to deduct Jan thru Apr loan payments from the Fund. We must stay current in the new year. That still leaves us with $80,000 debt from 2004 plus our Worker’s Comp situation. Finance will be calling a special Finance Meeting to discuss recommendations to Council for cuts. All council members are encouraged to attend. A vendor printout for 2004 will be delivered to each Council Member to peruse prior to that meeting.

Marian Garrett moved to authorize Lloyd Billman to attend a seminar at Lakeland Community Collage (sic) on 5/20/05 in Kirtland with registration fee of $149.00 & mileage. Seconded by Scott Garrett. Aye votes: Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

J Moore distributed the Safety Committee minutes.

Utility Committee Chairperson, Scott Garrett, shared a letter from USDA Rural Dev. dated 4–20–05 requesting additional easements required to complete the Center St. grant. It would seem the only easement required is from Ivan & Sherry Ward. Kevin Knight will pursue getting the necessary signatures.

S Garrett asked council to suspend the rules in considering the adoption of Ord. #0–2005–9. Seconded by A Ballard. Aye votes: Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

S Garrett moved to adopt Ordinance No. 0–2005–9, An Ordinance approving the residency outside of the Village of Windham of Kevin Knight, the Village Administrator pursuant to Section 735.271 of the Ohio Revised code and repealing all other inconsistent ordinances. Seconded by F Ballard. Aye votes: Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay none. Motion carried.

S Garrett moved to suspend the Rules in consideration of Ord. #0–2005–10. J Moore seconded. Aye votes: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

S Garrett moved to adopt Ordinance No. 0–2005–10, An Ordinance establishing Section 927–06 fo the codified Ordinance of the village of Windham in order to extablish (sic) a prodecure for repairing and/or replacing defective water meters with a shut-off provision for non-compliance and repealing all prior inconsistent ordinances. Motion seconded by F Ballard. Aye votes: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donahm, J Minotti & F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

F Ballard shared concern with non-control over outisde vendors as well as several issues she and the Administrator discussed.

J Moore moved to approve submitting pre-application to the Porgate (sic) County Engineer grant for OPWC Issue 2 Infrastructure Program. It will involve approval as well as some matching funds (ususally (sic) 20 to 30 %) and will facilitate road repairs. Seconded by S Garrett. Aye votes: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti and F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

Jodi Minotti had no Bldgs & Property meeting due to being out of town. We do understand that McCauley has sold several buildings which are due for major renovations.

Planning & Zoning Chairperson, J Moore, moved to accept the resignation of Trusetta Johnson from the Committee with regret and to appoint Tom Denvir, Sr., to the committee. Seconded by F Ballard. Aye votes: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

J Minotti, representative to the Parks & Recreation Committee reported no meeting was held. It seems the Board is in a state of disarray right now with several members having resigned. Mr. Moore indicated that the Board has a bank account with about $550.00 and it was suggested we use that to repair the Game Courts. Kevin reported that the deplorable restroom conditions have been corrected.

GUESTS: Marion Quiggle shared a brief concern. Bob Garner addressed an issue of sewer line problems on N. Main and waste being dumped in teh creek behind his home. He has taken samples and will be submitting them to the EPA.

At 8:07PM Jim Moore moved to adjourn the meeting. Francis (Angel) Ballard seconded the motion. There being no opposing voice vote the meeting adjourned.

submitted by Marian Garrett, Councilperson

These Minutes are subject to change. They may be amended to more accurately show the Village Council's actions at the meeting of which they describe. They will be discussed, amended, and approved at the June, 2005 Village Council meeting.

Gotta love that disclaimer

The game that brings people together

There's nothing like baseball

Yahoo! Maps

In another unpaid endorsement, if you're going anywhere, try Yahoo! Maps. Its quite the nifty little direction maker, even able to access road conditions and construction. As with all online maps, it is sometimes wonky, so do be careful about it.

This day in history

Every once in a while I cruise over to the History Channel’s “This Day in History” site.  Its really interesting, and usually has something I’d not heard of before.  Today it talks about Thor Heyerdahl, whom I’ve actually heard of.  He’s a noted Norwegian archaeologist and researches many lost cultures.  The odd thing is that I can recall my Physics teacher, Mr. Eisinger, talk about him.  I don’t really know how it had anything to do with physics, perhaps something about carbon dating.  Its weird how you remember the strangest things sometime.

I loved physics and chemistry in high school. I had originally intended to go into college and become a chemical engineer, but at the last minute, decided to major in music education, which I promptly dropped after the first semester, realizing that my drive to practice was not exactly what my instructors though it should have been.  I worked back into chemistry, but eventually dropped out of school a year and a half later.  I still think back to those high school days, studying elementary quantum mechanics (if there really is such a thing).  I loved it.  The idea that you can only give a best guess as to where an electron is around the nucleus of an atom is astounding to me.  Science, for all of its constants and standards, could not explain the simplest of all mater, the atom.  It could give only its best guess. 

Can I talk about Neils Bohr now, or would that be bohring?  (yeah, its a bad pun, but hey, what do you really expect here?)