uncommonly feeble and random thoughts

Board Activity and Timeline Relative to Pickleball This post tracks the dates and discussion regarding pickleball as chronicled in the Board minutes. Jan. 11, 2016 - Board meeting - " 9. Maintenance Committee Report . Pickleball lines at tennis courts -- Kathy Gorton has gathered information about the cost of painting lines (blue whereas tennis lines are white) for pickle ball on the tennis courts, opening them up to use by some of the older residents of the subdivision. She secured estimates from Edward enterprises ($400 for two courts) and McKearney Asphalt ($500 for one and $800 for two courts). Pro - Service was us ed in the past to paint the tennis court lines, and an estimate from them will be obtained before making a final recommendation . To be reported on at next meeting." Feb. 23, 2016 Board meeting - " a. Quote to repair c racks in tennis court & painting of pickleball lines ProSurfaces submitted a quote for repairing cracks and some ...

Historical Context and The Argument Against Pickleball Our neighborhood association voted to allow pickleball on the tennis courts behind our house, and paid to have the courts painted for the "new" sport. We didn't know the game, and had no opinion, until it began to be played, and those of us living "on" the courts came to find it an irritant, at best. We tried to work with the pickleball players, other residents of our association, to tone down the noise. We researched the issue and found a whole lot of citations when searching "pickleball noise". It turned out that many homeowner associations, particularly retirement communities, have grappled with the issue. And, our attempts to work with the players came to naught. They put on sound-absorbing racquet covers, but only for the 8 to 9 a.m. time slot, taking them off for their second hour because they were too heavy. We asked if they would play starting at 9 a.m., but they didn't want to ...

So, when I get all full of myself, I reflect on the time I created (and printed, and gave out two) business cards. Sheesh.

(Adapted from an email I sent some of my high school buddies who think about public education) At the risk of inducing a snoozefest, I'm sharing this article . Each of you has evidenced some interest in all things NCLB, policy, and the general mess in which schools too often find themselves, for too many years now. The author shares what I think are accurate descriptions of the effects of the legislation, and the ways in which it influenced attempts at school improvement over the course of time since its adoption in 2001. I will say its roots were nurtured earlier. Johnson signed the first Title I law in 1965, which provided significant federal resources for education, By '72, when I got into the field, some principals were retiring in part because of all the paperwork... with the money came the accountability. I thought they were whiners, but that was just me. What schools did with the money, kinda sorta directed by the law, was attempt to serve the lowest-per...

(all pics were edited in Google Photos, none in Lightroom - important only to me, I suppose. Maybe Shipman too.) This was a train trip to visit James, and to celebrate Mother's Day, and Father's Day. After a long and dusty ride on the rails, the first stop had to be for refreshment. One must be properly fortified.  One of our favorite haunts is in South Loop, on Wabash just north of Roosevelt. Quoting the menu:   Rubin’s Reuben Open-Faced Corned Beef or Pastrami, Swiss, Sauerkraut, 1000 Island Dressing with Fries I said, "make that and pastrami"... Next up; Mother's Day, the Architectural Cruise on the Chicago River. She's wanted to go for forever... we missed the 2:30 by a couple minutes, but then 3:00 and 3:30 were sold out, so we got tickets for 4:00 and hung out on the riverwalk, Well, James and Linda did. I fiddled with camera stuff. I settled on the Sigma Art 18-35mm f1.8 with the gradient density filter. Hoo boy. (this is a w...

I am extremely happy to read in today's LSJ the the Michigan Attorney General has declared the lame duck law passed regarding the new bridge authority unconstitutional. Here's the key language: Nessel, a Democrat, said Public Act 359 of 2018 violates a state constitutional requirement that each bill must have a single purpose, described in its title, and that no bill should be amended after its introduction to change its original purpose. Republican lawmakers were rushing to pass the tunnel legislation during the lame-duck session and their work was complicated by another constitutional requirement that no bill can pass until it has been in each chamber for at least five days. To get around that requirement and save time, lawmakers used a “vehicle bill,” introduced earlier in the Senate and related to the Mackinac Bridge Authority, to create the new Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority. That maneuver, and the resulting complications with the title and purpose of the bill...

We are in the midst of a polar vortex event, with life-threatening wind chills: James, in Chicago, had a wind chill of -55 yesterday. In the evening, after it had warmed up a bit, he took an Uber to ORD (the freeways at 5 p.m.-ish were nearly empty) and flew to Miami where we picked him up. It was 70 degrees here, so he gained 125 degrees of change over the course of the day. As news of shutdowns (businesses, state and local governments, all schools in mid-Michigan, even MSU, and wait for it... a state of emergency declared by our governor) headlined state news, and the cold headlined national news, this tidbit emerged. The governor of Kentucky (which is known in those parts as "the Commonwealth") announced that shutting everything down was going to "make kids soft". The only thing soft is his brain. Mush. Of course, this is the state that has given us Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell (and, full disclosure, me. But that's totally unrelated. Totally...

I have chosen to believe the president. He said he'd be proud to shut down government, and that he would not blame the Democrats. I heard it (primary source live TV), and I read and saw it (admittedly, secondary sources, but multiple print and media outlets including his own). Thus, it must be true. And I argue that, since others are choosing to believe his latest utterances on topic, I'm logically within rights to believe his earlier statements, especially owing to zero change in his demands. So, now, the author of The Art of the Deal has brought our country to this. We are close to a full month of "shutdown". All-time record. The stuff of legacy. He has made it clear he's not budging. The Senate Majority Leader (Leader; what a bastardization of that term) has stated that he will not bring something to this president which he (the president) will not sign, meaning, anything which does not include $5.7B for a wall, or that-which-might-be-called-something-e...