Kathleen Falk commercial is horrid

Wow, I think if I hear that commercial one more time I will go crazy! Wonder if the ad makers realize how offensive the voice of that commercial sounds, she grates on peoples nerves and actually is probably quite derrimental to Kathleen Falls campaign. I also find it offensive that the intent is to place all the blame on Gov. Walker for ''dividing'' our state.....hmmmm, seems like it's the dems and he public unions dividing the state don't you think. By the way, if you want more proof of that, go to governor walkers website and view the newsletter for march 16. Each and every tax payer in this state should be telling the teachers union that they are not in a position of dictating how the taxpayers dollars are to be spent when it comes to their political agendas and desire to exact revenge. . http://www.walker.wi.gov/Default.aspx?Page=9e047364-6153-43af-b2f8-3916cf2459a3 Click on the link to read the newsletter.

Wisconsin taxpayers are being duped by recall efforts

It's really time for the taxpayers of Wisconsin to voice their refusal to support the recall effort against Gov. Walker. I just watched another union/weac fabricated commercial on TV, that basically says the governor has caused the demise of our schools. Not true!----- it is the greedy and ever so entitled public sector employees and even more importantly the unions that represent them that are the problem. I say let's recall the union!

Fact - you the taxpayer are paying school taxes meant to be used to teach our children, would it outrage you to know that some of that money is going to provide teachers and administrative staff with meals? Well it's true, I have witnessed this first hand as recently as this morning. Yogurt parfaits, fresh fruits for their breakfast while they have a 30 min meeting. Honestly, I find it hard to afford fresh fruit for my family, but they get to eat foods I long for, on MY TAX DOLLAR. THE last meeting they were treated to doughnuts. a couple of weeks ago, subs and soup for lunch, breakfasts at the beginning of the year, and the list go on. It all adds up and there are many many more examples of unnecessary spending that could easily be eliminated. If our schools are in such "dire straits" as the unions would like you to believe, then why do they not chastise this kind of entitled behavior. Oh that's right, they don't care about the workers or the Wisconsin taxpayer or our children......they only care about themselves, as the union. I can't help but wonder if every public sector employee...those individuals being paid from the taxpayers dime were no longer treated to meals and treats, how much money would be saved. I think it would surprise you.

WEAC propaganda to recall Gov. Walker

I am so tired of opening my mailbox only to find yet more of the crap WEAC sends to me darn near every week. Hey WEAC, guess what, I am NOT voting to recall Walker, quite the opposite in fact. He is the only governor who has had the balls to stand up against the Union to make the difficult changes that are needed to get our budget back in line. Seriously, stop taking money out of my paychecks to publish your propaganda and solicit signatures and donations to support your cause. Not all of us who work for the schools want to see us revert to a hyper spending, grossly in debt government. Do you really want Wisconsin to be another Greece or Italy.

It is no longer about budget cuts though, now it is all about the Union losing power. I do not want Unions to buy my government with my dollar. I do not want the Unions to have the power to keep tenured teachers in their jobs when they are actually not a good fit for students, just because they pay union dues. Our kids deserve teachers who really love what they do and chose to be teachers because of their strong desire to teach. Not a strong desire to be off during the summer months.

As for all the crying about how horridly the budgets cuts have affected our schools....I scoff and don't believe a word of it, otherwise I would not see the schools spending money on foolish non essential items.
Really, you needed brand new school logo'd satellite clocks in every room......
Really, you needed to switch around your "early release" fridays to "late start" morning hours because the teachers just couldn't concentrate during the friday afternoon meetings...well how they hell do they teach class during the same time slot instead then? The changing of the early releases into late starts resulted in additional costs to cover the now needed, 2 shifts of crossing guards in the morning, and the loss of the breakfast program revenues, not to mention the need for parents to rearrange work schedules, sometimes having to miss out on being paid for those 4 hours per month....there is so much that just doesn't make sense anymore.
Will WEAC tell you about the superintendants who admit "we can work with this" new budget. Nope, WEAC just gleens the worse, puts it in your face and expects you to believe it.
The Union could not give a crap about the members.
Don't believe me, file a legit grievance once and see just how helpful they are - I personally know of cases where the union should have been able to help some members, but didn't.
The Union very much gives a crap about taking your hard earned money every month though.
Yep, they do that very well.

Could fixing the American economy be as easy as just 5 steps

I have a hard time wrapping my head around why the leaders of our country can't seem to come to a solution to fix our economy that doesn't involve bailouts and taxpayers shouldering a burden that is a result of their inability to run the country within a budget that is consistant with the way the rest of us have to live. Frugally.

I'm just your run of the mill lower end middle class citizen, so maybe my ideas don't live up to the extravagant bail out ideas or the "creation of jobs" that revolve around building infrastructure.....jobs that only benefit those qualified, and only for the short term. That just doesn't seem like a solution that is going to benefit enough people in this country for the long run and the cost of it sounds out of balance with any benefit it might create.

So here's the 5 steps I propose:

1) No more special interest group payments anywhere. Plain and simple. If we can't afford a yacht, we just don't buy one. (figure of speech)

2) Elected officials don't get lifelong after career benefits that are any more than the general population gets. In other words, setup a darn 401K, and save your money like we have to. Live like we do so that the bills you want to pass affect you as well as me.

3) Set up a US business to business website - a way for American businesses to denote their products as well as their needs so we can get these companies hooked up to buy from each other. Now give those same American businesses that exclusively buy components, supplies and equipment from other American businesses a tax credit for supporting their fellow businesses. That is a tax credit worth giving.

What if those businesses can't find certain widgets or needs that they have always sourced from overseas.........

4) That's where the government can help new businesses get setup to supply that need with low cost or no interest loans, with of course, the stipulation that the loan proceeds must be related to the purchase of again, American made products to setup that business.

But it's cheaper to get it from a foreign country.....

5) Time to assess customs and duty charges so that there in not a financial advantage to buying foreign products.

It's all about the government not spending money foolishly and keeping the jobs here and that starts with buying from here.
So simple!

pit fired pots without digging up the yard - making pottery in my new campfire pit

These pictures are from a previous attempt at firing a little bowl in my fire pit purchased at Menards for having backyard campfires.
By using some organic fuels, coloring agents next to the pot and then wrapping in newspaper and tin foil, and finally allowing it to burn in the fire for several hours, I can make our evening outdoor fires have a little of the anticipation a child feels at christmas.

Trying to be humble, but pretty darn excited!

Yesterday, after many months of anticipation, I was greeted with a package on my doorstep from DRG Network. Alas, my yarn bowl was back home, and accompanying it on its journey were 2 hard copies of the current issue of Creative Knitting Magazine. Wow, the cover shot is of a finished top to die for. Wish I had the time to really delve into knitting when I see some of these creations. If you're a knitter, this would be a fabulous magazine to subscribe to - and either the online version or the snail mail version are available. Perusing through, I find an overhead shot of one of my yarn bowls on page 11 "Knitting with a conscious" article - with a great writeup on eco friendly green yarns. The article continues and there on page 90 in all her glory a full shot of my bowl. The yarns they chose to feature in the bowl couldn't have been more perfect. I am normally a very humble person, but I can't help but be terribly excited about this - thank you Creative Knitting!
Visit Creative Knitting

Hey, I think there's a skunk in my Bearpaw Tama boots - product review

Imagine if you will, that for Christmas you were given a brand new dressy winter jacket, with a fur trimmed hood. It's lovely and now your ancient winter boots, that are cracking and leaking around the soles look very out of place. Well, that is just where my story starts.

After many hours of shopping locally, I was unable to find the perfect boots to both match my style and taste and my new jacket. I wanted comfort and good quality too, because I wouldn't be buying another pair of boots after this purchase until they were worn out. After many additional hours of research and looking online I decided on the black Tama style boots by BearPaw.

I ordered them online on January 5, 2011 and received them on January 12th. They're lovely boots, I couldn't wait till I had the chance to wear them. I took them out of the box quick tried them on for size, at that time I noticed what I thought was a strange rancid rubbery smell. Figured it was the new soles and didn't ponder it further, put them back in the box to take up to my room. A few days later I decided to wear my new boots, so I took them out of the box and removed the plastic sleeves that the boots were packaged in, and the odor hit me again only this time I realized it was skunk! I so desparately wanted to wear the boots. "Maybe they would air out after a day of wear". I shouldn't have worn them to work, it might just be the most embarrassing day of my life. As my co-workers repeatedly commented on smelling skunk, I just wanted to go hide somewhere out of everyones olfactory zone.
by the way - regarding sizing - I wear a size 7 to 7 1/2 shoe, and have a somewhat narrow foot, so per all comments and suggestions I ordered an 8 and they are slightly big, plenty wide, but I would be afraid to order small since it's better to have a little extra room than not enough).

Long story short, after a little over a week of trying to get some resolution on the problem it has now come down to me having to spend MY money to return them to the company at which time they would have to send me a completely different style (although they offered more than one option), none of which was really truly what I wanted. I am having a difficult time justifying paying to return a product that never should have been sent to me in the first place only to receive in return, a pair of boots that I never would have originally purchased.

So one month and almost $100 later I still don't have any boots to wear, and needless to say I am pretty much one very unhappy customer. Oh, and fyi this was a "batch wide" problem from what the person I spoke with indicated and that the retailer I bought them from did not have any replacements in stock for me. When I asked to be able to contact the manufacturer I discovered that the boots are actually made in China (my bad for some reason thinking these were made in the US where the quality control would be better). Maybe a stowaway skunk in a some Chinese factory is to blame for the free smells you get with the boot. At any rate, I have found other online reviews indicating the same problem with the same boot, so it's not just me.

Have you too experienced this - please post in the comments, and as for anyone else considering ordering, be sure to get confirmation from the seller that they have opened the plastic packaging sleeves and done a sniff test first. My recommendation would be to only buy them in person, so you can view the product carefully and sniff it too!

Update (2/10/11): I am happy to report that I have received a pair of replacement boots, sans odor! Yeah! I have another month, maybe, of winter weather left in which to wear them. Thank you to those who helped me.