This week was my last trip to the Kotzebue area. The weather was okay- today it's great. At night, it's been freezing. By midafternoon, all the roads and parking lots are lakes of muddy, icy slush. It's a typical springtime in Alaska. Old Man Winter really hates to go. The rivers and sea ice are too thin to be reliable, but too thick to allow boating.
It's also hard to pack for this type of weather if you have limited baggage weight. Should you pack your winter boots or the more waterproof, higher mud boots? Should you bring a raincoat or a parka? Anyway, fashion is out of the question- leave the fancy shoes and white pants behind. Be sure to bring sunglasses though for the bright sun on the snow.
Because it is already daylight here still at 11pm, kids are up late and playing basketball in the snow. Even though the daylight energizes everyone, the lack of sleep mitigates it!
As far as interesting people, I met a school district plumber during my travels. He was adamant that his representative union was not serving his needs- not sending reps for the upcoming negotiations, not giving info, etc. Come to find out, he wasn't even a member until about 6 months ago. When he also told me that schools couldn't operate with plumbing as a reason why support staff should make higher salaries than teachers, I saw red! Fortunately, I remembered that I didn't need to win this argument. I just remembered many situations where schools kept on- without plumbing. But when there are no teachers, schools close- and guess what- a closed school doesn't need a plumber. It's just amazing that some support staff doesn't remember that the PRIMARY mission of school is educating students, not running a facility. Don't get me wrong about this- I have worked with some amazing support staff. In fact, I couldn't have imagined teaching last year without the side by side collaboration with aide, Reggie Page. HE is grossly underpaid, but he loves his work anyway.
I have also had wonderful, stimulating conversations with people about feelings of entitlement. Not just young people- but many Americans. This idea that the life of an American is more valued and valuable than the lives of others is ludicrous. Along with this, some people think that their lifestyles should be subsidized....by whom? everyone else. More on this later.
On another note, there are term limits for elected officials, there are time limits for sessions of the legislature. I think there should be limits on the campaign. It's a shame that we are barraged with campaign rhetoric right before the election. I'd rather have decided on my vote based on record and character instead of being subjected to the expensive, ridiculous and scripted strategies of getting elected. Yep- it's broken...it should be fixed.
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