Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Linda, responding to your query on the Donut Day Open Thread, the elder and her husband will not be able to come to Wichita for the holidays. This is due primarily to his being required to be at Fermi for three days after Christmas as a part of his doctoral research, combined with the short break the elder gets from her teaching job.

Mrs. VT continues to improve; the incision continues to shrink, to the point that I think the pump will need to be removed soon. She awaits that day, as well as a follow up with the doctor (which should be happening soon, I think) which will hopefully result in her being released to work.

The younger has been catching up on her rest. She was fighting a cold when she got in, likely due to her late hours in finishing up the semester. I look for her to become restless and bored soon.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Oops, forgot above; Happy Anniversary, Tracy.

Due to our ridiculous life lately, our 35th on Dec. 1 came and went without either of us realizing it. Oh well....

 

ksgrm said:

 

Happy anniversary Tracy. We will celebrate our 44th on January 11th. It doesn't seem possible I'm married to that old man that shares my bed each night. Oh well he probably wonders who the old lady is on the other side of his bed.

Fighting the stomach virus myself so won't do much posting today.

 

Tracy Phillips said:

 

ksgrm, I believe that's what I got.
Never have run a fever, but been chillin', sweating, and pooping, not in any order.

 

lindainks55 said:

 

Congratulations to all of you old married folks! I'm not telling whether the word old describes the marriages or the people. (giggle!)

Vaughn, my grandson has been home since last Wednesday ( albeit very late, nearly time for me to begin Thursday!) and did spend the first two or three days beginning and finishing the last final paper, but has been sleeping since. He rouses late in the day to eat and stay awake too late. He has his days and nights all mixed up again! I know he has early classes when school is in session and works both on the student newspaper and in the media resource center. Maybe he is catching up on a whole semester's worth of lost sleep??

 

Rox said:

 

We're all passing stuff around here, and it isn't pretty. Bad timing, but we can all hope that everyone (that includes y'all) will be feeling better by Christmas.

Awesome congrats to those who've had anniversaries. Those are wonderful milestones to celebrate!

 

ksgrm said:

 

Update: My 93 year old mom after 9 days now has electricity. She is so glad. Missed being able to hear on the phone - her amplifyer didn't work without power. She talked to me for an hour. Thank God they still have those warm morning heaters. It was a lifesaver for her. Stayed snug as a bug in a rug.

#1 Grandson flies in this Sat. and back out early on the 26th. Wrestles at Northwestern on the 29th and 30th. Hate that it is such a short time.

 

Julie said:

 

Congrats to VT and Tracy on their respective anniversaries!!!


Update on MM
There is a shower in his immediate future!!! We have scheduled a shower with occupational therapy for this afternoon! He's very excited.
However he will not be home by Christmas this year. He will definitely be going to a regular rehab hospital as soon as he can tolerate 3 hours of continuous therapy at a time.
Our new date for him to come home by is February 14, 2008 - which will be our 6th wedding anniversary.

I've been rereading a bunch of my books and reread the entire published works by a local author that hasn't gotten that much local press whom I dearly love both personally and professionally. Since she will have another book out soon (supposed to be released in January) I just wanted to give a shout out and my support to Ms. Roxann Delaney!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

lindainks55 said:

 

I don't know how you always find those boot straps Julie, but I've seen you find them and give them a good tug upwards many times. You are my hero!

Is there a chance the "regular rehab hospital" will be in my neck of the woods? I know your Mom is right here too but if you ever need a place for those little ones... I have references! I can get several youngsters to recommend my spoilings.

 

lindainks55 said:

 

One more complaint and then I'll have them all out and can get busy. You may not know this, but at this time of year I truly am Wonder Woman!

At least the first half of my property taxes are due this Thursday. I wrote the check yesterday and have placed the envelope on the mailbox for pickup today. Now I'm wondering if I should run it to the court house. I certainly don't want to be late, neither do I want to be too early.

What a time of year to have THAT expense!

 

Rox said:

 

Ksgrm,

Hooray for your mom's electricity being back on!! I'm sure you had your worries about her, but I'm so glad to hear all is well. I remember years ago when my dad was snowed in and I was a good 15 miles away with no way to get to him and help. He admitted to spending most of the time in bed, since that was the warmest place, and his spirits stayed high throughout. Still, it didn't mean I worried any less.

Julie,

You have me blushing. Thank you. Oh, not for making me blush, but because you are you, a fantastically wonderful person. You, MM, and the kids are constantly in my thoughts. I know this is going to be a tough holiday for all of you, but I also know that you'll make the best of it. I'm so very thankful that MM has pulled through this so quickly, even though I know it seems like it dragged on and on and continues to do so. I'm betting that, with his determination and yours, he's home before the projected date, and life WILL return to normal then. Blessings on all of you.

Linda,

Thank goodness I'm the only personal property I have. >g< And I'm pretty cheap, most of the time, too.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Linda, as long as the envelope is postmarked on or before the 20th, there won't be an issue. :-)

 

Wendy said:

 

I am so glad the new home loan has escrow, so we don't have to worry about that anymore :) All we got in the mail was a copy of our reciept for payment :) One less thing to pay, hooray!!!!

Julie, glad to hear that MM is doing better. Hopefully you will start to see a drastic improvement, both in him and in the effectiveness of the staff you have been lamenting as of late :).

And the countdown is on. I am not sure if I mentioned, but the monster is getting a puppy for Christmas. We actually got her Dec 1, and she has been staying with a friend of mine until the appropriate gift giving point. Since the monster is with Daddy this weekend, we are picking her up on Friday to give her a few days to acclimate to our house before having to deal with an overly enthusiastic little boy. If anyone knows anything about dachsunds, all help appreciated as well. I admit to being rather dog illiterate. We got her from a friend, took her to the vet for a check up last weekend and all is good, although he did say she is a bit larger than the average mini at this age, and we had thought she was a full mini, but the father we werent positive about. So apparently he was not a mini after all :) It's okay, she is still cute :) And all dachsund, just not all the same dachsund LOL. So that will be our adventure for the holidays...

 

Rox said:

 

Wendy,

We had dachsunds when I was a kid. We got our first one in Waco, TX, although I don't remember why we were in Waco, except we went down with some family friends. I think I was in 5th grade when Gretchen (Duchess Gretchen von Popp) had puppies of her own. We kept one of the females and named her Winnie (Wilhemena Winnifred von Popp). They were both great dogs! Not minis, but full size. Still, I don't think that matters. They were both good with children. Good luck with your puppy! I'm sure your son will adore her.

 

Wendy said:

 

Rox,

Yeah, we had a mini (who wound up more like a full size due to a thyroid problem) named Elsa when I was little. Think I was six when we got her. I think the new one will do well with Britton, although much excitement to be had. Her name is Chloe. I told my fiance we have become pretentious pet owners - our cat's name is Samantha... not sure how that happened really...

funny story, when we decided to get the dog, one of the guys at work asked if i had ever seen "The Ugly Dachsund" which of course, having had a dachsund as a child, I had seen it (very cute movie BTW) several times, so we were reminiscing over the movie. The next day, once we had decided on a name for the dog (We debated letting him name her but he is in this stage where he either says no mommy you name it or comes up with some name that we have no idea what he is saying...) I told my sister, and she goes "that's the name of the dachsund from "The Ugly Dachsund" you remember, the movie where the guy sneaks the great dane puppy home with the dachsund puppies..." Oh we were cracking up over that one... I admit we are easily amused sometimes...

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Wendy,

We had one when I was young. While it was not a happy experience (apparently the dog, a black male was psychotic) for the neighbors' dogs, around the family, he was fine.

Over the years, I've gotten to know some others. Always great around me; most disturbing trait I observed (other than the dogs becoming overweight as they aged) was that they liked to lay down in the middle of the street in the sun, and basically took it as a personal affront when a car would come at them. Eventually, they would get up and move, but there was no hurrying them.

We had a pair down the street from us for about a year; they thought I was their brother, and when they became full grown, they would drag the young man who walked them up the street whenever I was spotted (smelled?), so I could minister to their needs (scratching behind the ear, lots of attention, etc.), and, of course, I'd get licked by both. Love the little devils.

BTW, an advantage to having a dachsund; from hearsay, they make excellent foot warmers in the winter. Build it some steps to get up to the bed, train it to stay at the foot, and I am told the dear thing will keep your feet warm. :-)

 

ksgrm said:

 

We had a black mini that we let our youngest son name. Of course he always called her 'Puppy' and that was all she was ever known by.

When she was about two my husband purchased a very expensive setter because he is/was a quail hunter. Puppy was queen of the house and got her bluff in on him right away. All she had to do was growl and he backed up and let her eat until she was finished.

The downside was she liked to sit in our laps and by example so did he. By the time he was six months with the longest legs I have seen on a dog he would take a good 5 minutes trying to get his body and all of his monster legs into our lap. He was our ugly dachsund.

My husband complains to this day that we ruined his bird dog. He never became a hunter but was a great family pet.

Dachsunds are great pets. Watch them closely for signs of kidney problems and also weak backs. We have had four and they all developed the same problems.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

ksgrm, good luck to your grandson in the wrestling tournament at Northwestern.

Your observations on the physical infirmities of dachsunds are well made.

 

Rox said:

 

My mom had a mini for many years, and even with my crazy kids, who were little then, she was good. The earlier two we'd had were red, but Solow (as in so low) was black.

 

lindainks55 said:

 

I compromised and drove the envelope with its 41 cent stamp to the main post office at the airport. Its bad enough to have to pay the taxes, I sure don't want to pay a penalty! The airport is closer than the County Courthouse.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Just have to do this; NEMHS is named one of the top 1600 high schools in the country per U.S. News and World Report December 10 edition. I am of the thought that it would have maybe ranked higher (it received a "bronze") had there been more AP courses in the curriculum.

http://www.kansas.com/news/updates/story/258629.ht...

Linda, I'm glad you compromised. As I said, though, all that is needed to avoid a penalty is a postmark of Dec. 20 (or earlier). BTW, I've never understood why Kansas sets December as the month property taxes are due (or at least the first half).

 

lindainks55 said:

 

Isn't that the greatest! I hope this makes the local newspaper. But then its been awhile since Dec. 10th and nothing yet. The whole school deserves great recognition.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

Linda, I'm speculating here, but I think the reason that it wasn't publicized earlier was due to the Board meeting last night, and there was going to be some recognition there. The small bit I linked was on the first page of State and Local, in the left column of small pieces.

What really made the headlines was the proposal to end busing for desegregation purposes. While I wish the district well, I don't know that it will fly.

 

Julie said:

 

I must confess in the past Roy has taken care of most of the bills and taxes and stuff associated with it. When I read that personal property taxes were due I started getting very worried. I remembered getting a bill in the mail from the county treasurer about personal property taxes. I started trying to figure out where I was going to get thousands of dollars to pay the bill. I called MM at the hospital and asked him how bad the penalties would be if we were late - he told me not to worry about it because the mortgage company would take care of it with the escrow account.
Man that was a load off my mind.

Wendy,
A friend of mine used to raise regular sized Dachsunds. They were so sweet.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

OK, I'm ready to accept all derision, flaming, whatever comes from what follows:

Most of you are not paying personal property taxes, unless you are in business. What you are paying are real property taxes on your residence and other real estate you may own (such as rental property). Most "normal" folks are paying the only personal property taxes we owe at the time we renew our vehicle registration.

Once upon a time, property taxes were assessed and paid on the personal property (furniture, appliances, etc.) that was located in our homes. I remember visits from the County Appraiser when I was a mere lad, who would sit down with my parents and complete the rendition. The legislature eliminated taxation on this personal property decades ago.

Now, I'm paying both real property taxes and personal property taxes by tomorrow. Two separate things, both in the law and in fact. I realize this is nitpicking and legalistic. Sorry for that.

Fire away!

 

lindainks55 said:

 

For once I already knew that!

I remember those "people" coming to ask all sorts of questions. I also remember Mother telling us she would be answering the questions and it was a time we would be quiet. This was said so there was NO misunderstanding.

I probably shouldn't complain as the whole reason I have to worry about paying the property tax at this time of year is that we don't have a mortgage any longer. When we did the mortgage included an escrow account and was magically taken care of. At least this way we get a bit of interest on our money as the year goes on instead of the mortgage company keeping it and gaining the interest.

 

Vaughn Tolle said:

 

A comment on the district's proposal to eliminate "forced busing", and why I feel any reliance on the SCOTUS decision concerning Louisville and Seattle is misplaced.

The issue of "forced busing" is one which is burdened both with emotion and the law. Simply stated, a great majority of residents who live within USD 259 want it eliminated. End of discussion for most is "just get rid of it".

As most know, SCOTUS held that the programs in place in Seattle and Louisville were unconstitutional, as the same relied upon race to determine eligibility for attendance at various schools within these districts. Simplistic analysis would lead one to believe that this decision would cause the current program within 259 to be unconstitutional, and thus would need to be stopped.

When the decision is read, there is one distinction between the Louisville and Seattle programs and the Wichita program, a distinction that would make a difference. This is that the Seattle plan was not as a result of prior segregation of schools based upon the race of students, and the Louisville plan grew out of the release of the Louisville district from a court-ordered or court-supervised plan to bus students to correct the former de jure segregation of its schools, the challenged plan arrived at after a finding by a lower court that forced busing was no longer needed to comply with the law.

The Wichita busing plan, however, exists solely for the reason that the schools in Wichita had been segregated as a matter of policy, a de jure segregation, and the current plan arose out of litigation concerning this. In other words, unlike the Louisville and Seattle plans struck down by SCOTUS, the existing Wichita busing program exists to remedy the effects of prior action to segregate schools. The SCOTUS decision, in fact, indicates that the outcome of the case involving Louisville and Seattle would likely have been different had the busing plans at issue therein been of a remedial nature, such as exists in Wichita.

Thus, to the extent that the district is placing reliance on this decision, I fear that it will be disappointed by the response of the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education. Given the public statements of certain district officials which wrongly (imho) suggest that the SCOTUS decision provides a foundation for eliminating forced busing in Wichita, if OCR reacts as I believe it will, there will be many residents who rightfully will feel they were misled.

The main issue with the Wichita busing plan as it exists is that given the demographic changes in the district within the past 30+ years, it only covers black and caucasian students. Other minorities are unaffected thereby. This is one of the ironies, as the prior segregation only, as a practical matter, affected black and white students, as other ethnicities were either not then present, or were such a minor part of the population; thus, remediation would by necessity only affect black and white. With the rise of Hispanic and Asian populations, we have, I am told, many buildings which are predominantly minority in population; it is just that the minorities represented aren't black or white. This results in the same social issues as were extant previously; the difference is that the other minorities are not forcibly segregated, nor forcibly integrated, as they are outside the consent order which, as mentioned above, only applies to black and white. Any segregation which exists is de facto, a result of our housing patterns, and these minorities are not subject to busing for desegregation purposes, as there is no prior segregation to remedy.

The idea of placing certain magnet programs in judiciously selected locations is a good one, but that, in and of itself, will not result in "balance" of the population across the district. While one may point to NEMHS as an example of a magnet program that results in a balanced student population, I would suggest that this exists more as a result of it being the only "true" magnet high school with good academics combined with the lottery program used to determine admissions from the applications, rather than some higher minded reason, such as parents who want their students' schools to be integrated. I don't necessarily see this "success" as being replicable.

 

Rox said:

 

Aren't there only certain schools that have bused students and to certain schools? We looked into it a little this year when the two g-daughters started. The kindergartener goes to Anderson, and I'd lay odds that "whites" are even up with all other minorities combined, if not in the minority, themselves. Doesn't bother me. I think it's good for kids to learn diversity.

I also wonder if the idea to do away with busing here is also because of the lack of school bus drivers. Add to that the cost of running those buses (fuel & maintenance), and I'm thinking it would be a break not to bus. Driving a bus is a job I would never do. My oldest g-daughter's father drove a bus for awhile, so I got a close-up view. I have enough trouble with a large car, much less a huge bus full of noisy kids. I'm sure I'd have a nervous breakdown the first hour of the first day. Which means I respect those who do the job so well.

I guess we'll wait and see what happens. Kinda like the city wide smoking ban...

 

Wendy said:

 

Rox,

I BELIEVE (saying this because I do not have a child in the public school system, this information is second hand coming from experiences with my niece and nephew) that they pull students FROM all the schools in the district EXCEPT the two? that they bus to - which I believe are Brooks and one other school, because those schools have a large minority population. If the child is a minority of any kind they will not be bussed to these schools (and perhaps they bus some of the students from those schools out, but I am not sure) - when my best friend discovered this she changed her childrens registration from caucasian to hispanic (which she could do because she is hispanic) becuase her daughter was due to be bussed that year, and she is a very shy child who has a difficult time making friends and she was very concerned about the difficulties said bussing would create...

Vaughn, I think it is a catch -22. The precedents they are using to try and eradicate I can see really have no bearing on the situation. However, coming from another point, I fail to see the benefits of the bussing situation. Because it is a random lottery draw and the children attend the school for only one year before returning to their "normal" school, I don't see the benefits for either the school or the child being bussed. If anything, i can see how this would be rather detrimental to those students. Now, if some kind of lottery was established and those students were to permanently attend the schools that are involved, that would be different.

 

Rox said:

 

Wendy, heartfelt thanks on the busing explanation. We were doing some wild guessing prior to registration. I guess we guessed wrong. Nothing new.

There wasn't any busing when I was in grade school here in Wichita, then my kids went to a small school. As you saw, I'm clueless. :)

Smart move on opting for the shot for your son. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

Wendy said:

 

My thoughts exactly. I don't know much about the busing either, since i went to a suburb school, and my son isn't old enough for schools (and will be going to private school when the time comes) so that is all second hand information, but that is the way i understand it to work - also i believe they do not start the busing until 1st or 2nd grade, not sure which one...