Thursday, June 25, 2009

Mitch Education Plan - Rep vs Dem School Districts

Mitch old buddy you ain't fooling me. I took a look at the education plan in the state budget and I have a question for you.
How come school districts in Democratic areas would see a funding reduction and those in Republican areas a funding increase?
I know you want to do this per student and in growth areas the funding would go up, yet in the areas where we need to pump more money the funding is going down. So the inner city schools can continue to spiral downward. The rich school districts will get more money.

Well, old buddy, as the inner city schools continue to decline the students will decline and the end result will be more welfare and more of these people in jails as they get older.

No wonder Pat Bauer does not like your school funding. Anyone who looks to the future should reject your funding proposal. We need to pump more money and better teachers into the failing schools to give the inner city students the tools to live good lives and not prison terms.

Hamilton County --- Not Green!

As you enter the Hamilton County building you will see a very nice chamber. Recently the people responsible for maintenance replaced the light bulbs with new energy efficient bulbs. But then under direction of one the County Commissioners they were order to go back to regular bulbs at once and before a Commissioners meeting later that day.

So much for the County wanting to reduce energy costs, etc. Yet the county has to cut costs. Well not at the commissioner level. It's your tax dollars - its time to write the Commissioners and protest.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Dan Burton Job Fair

Congressman Burton will be hosting his first Help Indiana Regain Employment (H.I.R.E) Job Fair in Marion, Indiana on Monday, June 29th on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University.

I think I figured it out. You see Danny boy never has done anything that I can find for this district. Notice he calls this his "First." Dan knows that once a Republican is elected out here they are elected for life. But even the Republicans have figured out that Danny does not do anything except try and improve his golf game while in office. I think so far 4 Republicans have said they will run against Dan. So Danny is trying to make believe he cares. He actually was spotted at some function here weeks ago and now this job fair. Maybe he is going to be standing in line to make sure he can get another job when the people finally wise up and throw him out of office.

Special note to my friends who are Republicans by having four people run against him you are going to blow it, he will win the primary because you are going to spread out the vote over four people running against him. A bit of advice for the four of you sit down at the poker table and the winner takes all.

Friday, June 5, 2009

A tail of a mower.

My Toro mover of 15 or 20 years has lost its horsepower, instead of 5.5HP I think it is down to 1.2. So it was time to look for a new mower. Let's face it the economy needed a boost.

Part one research- Internet here we go again. Top ranked Honda - no surprise here, next John Deere, again no surprise and guess what Lowes is having a sale on John Deere mowers and I have a 10% off coupon, sounds like a deal. So off to Lowes. Purchase a JS25 mower and off to the lawn. Well after two hours it starts to act up, when you put the self propel into gear, it dies. Restart and go very slow, any fast speed and it dies. In any case just finished so I didn't even think about it until the next time, 2 hours into mowing, same thing. OK, back to Lowes and get a replacement.

Three hours into mowing, same thing. Right on the mower is an 800 number for customer service. Didn't even have to wait, Model Number he asks, what's can I do for you. I have this problem that is the same on two mowers..... He didn't understand, I explained it again slowly, ah he says "We do have an issue with that model in a few cases where the cable needs adjustment as the engine is getting a vapor lock when hot and it gets gas for the self propel."
Just take it to the warranty center near you and they will adjust it. I ask "If you have an issue why are you selling this." No answer just repeats about warranty and I do need help finding the warranty center. Thank you - good bye. Now being an engineer- I do not like things that need adjustment and warranty work, it also means every few years, if not every year it will need adjustment. After a while I would have to pay for it. So back to Lowes and a full refund. The salesmen at Lowes wanted to know why I brought back a second one and what was wrong. I told him not to sell it to anyone who took more than 2 hours to mow their yard. Better yet not to sell it to anyone. If John D knows it has an issue why are they still selling it. Oh I know most people mow in less than two hours. 5 Stars for Lowes return policy.

Back to research and a visit to Home Depot to look at the Honda and Toro. While the Honda looked good it was missing one thing, No side discharge. Check on the internet cites the one problem with the Honda - no side discharge and it jams in tall grass. Every review seemed to like the Toro. At Home Depot the sales lady in the lawn department proudly tells me she has owned the Toro I am looking at for two years and loves it. Lots of questions, and she has answers. Next I tell her about my John D and the 10% coupon, no problem they will match the 10% off.

The Toro actually has a better walk behind self pace system than the John D's system. I guess you pay extra for the green paint. The Toro also has a 1 inch wider deck, so maybe I will have 2 or 3 less rows to mow. The big test is next week when we go for a three hour run. Will keep you posted.

Joe

Fisher Town Council at it Again

Is anyone surprised by the title, I doubt it.

Well here we go again. Next Tuesday June 9, 2009 at 6:30 pm it is my understanding the Fishers Planning Board is going to discuss the Fishers request to exempt themselves from the UDO and zoning requirements that are established for everyone in the Town as well as those 2 miles outside of the Town.

One of the property owners in the effected area has told me that contrary to statements by town officials that "they have worked out all differences with adjoining property owners, wherever there have been issues, so they think they are now ready to proceed with this request to exempt town property."

She said no way, that she nor others have had anything worked out with them.

I think I know who they worked out the details with, none of the small land owners, you know the people who live in the area. They worked it out with the developers and track land owners, the people who want to see Fishers by-pass rules and in return some day by-pass some for them.

Just in case some of my fans on the Fishers Town Council are reading this I want to pass on something I learned a long time ago. When I was working for my Citizenship Merit Badge I remember one thing that has always remained with me and I want to state it here. "Public service is public trust." Members of the Council you would never make it to Eagle Scout because this is a required merit badge.

For everyone- Government should never holds itself to a lower standard than what it expects of it citizens. Fishers claims this will save it money on public projects, well then let everyone save money on their home and business projects.

Will this pass? Well the Fishers Planning Commission and the Town work we all know the answer in advance. No matter what anyone says they will pass this. They would have done it a long time ago, but too many of us have been watching and they know they are under fire for all the games they play. So they are making believe they are talking and listening.

Remember - "Public service is public trust."

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Gov Daniels what happened to the Budget?

Dear Gov Daniels

I have been for months telling you its raining and time to dip into the rainy day fund. You kept on saying all is fair and sunny. Now that GM is in Chapter 11, and California is sinking in debt into the ocean did you finally realize yes it is time to use some of your cash you have been hiding in the closet.

So you still have 1 billion in that fund. Why not make a loan to the CIB to bail them out? Give them some room to work things out and get back on track. I said loan not grant, they would have to pay you back. But this is thinking out side the box and from what I have seen you can't.

Joe