Day: February 25, 2023

But..what about the teachers?

In the dark days of the COVID pandemic, especially when we were flying blind about exactly what we were up against, I was very angry with those who seemed to discount the health of the teachers WRT “in person vs online” school.

We had the situation of overcrowded classrooms, poorly ventilated school buildings and parents who weren’t exactly to keep covid positive kids at home. And most of the discussion was about “the kids” (oh, the kids will be fine) and very little about the teachers and other staff. Note: I know it was more nuanced than that..remember that the schools were understaffed to begin with and there was a dearth of substitutes.

Well, now we have the problem of violence in schools, and in particular, violence against teachers. Example:

So, the discussion now revolves around…the minor in question? (what sort of criminal charges, if any…expulsion, etc.

But..what about the teachers? We walk about “the kids”, but what about the teachers? Would YOU want to work in such an environment? I wouldn’t.

Teacher welfare and safety have to be a major part of conversation. Teachers are not disposable robots.

Long workout where I didn’t do much

Yes, my full workout took about 3 hours from start to finish, but..I really did not do that much.

Around 8:30 I started with a light stretch, followed by 2.15 miles of commuter type walking.

Then I mixed PT with pull ups/stretches:

3 sets of 10 singles (final 2 unsat), then 2, 6 (so so), 6, 5, 7 (57 total reps) mixed in with a LOT of physical therapy for both the back and shoulder. That got me to 10:10 or so.

Downstairs: bench: 5 x 134, 4 x 165, 4 x 165, 4 x 165, 4 x 160 (disappointing); maybe arched in one of the reps (butt down but I don’t need to extend my back under load)

high incline: 10 x 85 then 3 sets of 7 x 94 (touch in every single rep)

curls: 2 sets of 10, 1 set of 7, 7, 7 (burn) That got me to 10:55.

Then upstairs for MORE pt and stretching (open book, etc, included 5 sets of 10 full push ups, 2 sets of 10 chest taps).

Finally, started walk 2.15 at about 11:20 and finished at about 11:46

That is a lot of time to spend on doing..not much.

But the second walk went very, very well; no pain at all. It was roughly the same course.

Later: I walked to our final home game for our women’s basketball team. We were playing a team that was “midpack” in our conference and of course we got creamed 64-38 in a game was was even worse than the score might indicate.

The lead grew to 30 and, well, lots of women got to play. Unfortunately, our team was overmatched at almost every position; speed, quickness, athletic ability, everything. The ladies ARE scrappers; one is a former team trainer who stepped up to help out. But practice, hustle, hard work and desire, which our team has, can go only so far. I am confident our first year coach can get us going in the right direction and bring in players who can do what she wants the team to do. This was a rough transition year.

Frito Bandito, activism and alienation

Seeing this reminded me ..

Yes, I had one of these; if I remember correctly, you could sent out for it.

This character was popular some time ago:

Clearly, tongue-in-cheek, right?

Well, activists complained and Frito-Lay did away with the Bandito.

Background: I am Mexican-American from both parents; I refer to myself as Latino. My mom learned to speak English in her teens; she grew up speaking Spanish. This is relevant.

When it came out that complaints from activists pressured Frito Lay into dropping the FB, my mom said something to the effect: “Idiots. Don’t they have better things to do? I thought the Bandito was funny!”

And so it goes: though you might think my mom was unique, she really wasn’t. There appears to be a gap between what the “activist” class thinks and what the rest of us think. Consider the issue of the word “Latinx”. Most Latinos haven’t heard of it, and most who have do not like it.

So, when people point out that there is a gap between what the loud, often academic “activists” think and what the rest of us think, the activists seem to think that the rest of us are “colonialized” or ignorant, or unaware, etc. Yes, activists, I’ve heard your arguments and I rejected many of them.

But that is not the main point of this post.

The main point of this post is that Democratic politicians who want Latino support but are unfamiliar with us tend to, you guessed it, turn to “activists” to learn and get advice.

At least as far as the “Latinx” issue, the tide appears to be turning.

But the larger point remains: if you want to court our vote, don’t go by what some woke recent college graduate activist has to say; try to connect with the larger community.

Rough and cold

PT, and a walk that became hard about 2.5 or so; it was not the worst however.

I felt good enough to try a 1.3 mile commuter walk after lunch and it was..ok..was ready to stop.

It feels as if I am in a type of limbo; not quite well, not quite injured..and thank goodness, NOTHING like a year ago..or even April, May, June, July, etc. I’d say September or October like.

Oh yes, my mini-handles are here. Farmer’s walks when it gets a bit warmer outside. Can’t wait to try them out.

Basketball:

Before the game, I thought Bradley had a good shot at getting its first conference win, and after 1 quarter, I still thought that. But it was 53-37 after 3 and I thought that it was “same old, same old.” But then look at that 4’th quarter; BU had pulled within 2 with 38 seconds to go. 35 points in the 4’th: BU was making everything they put up. Normally, 35 points is a good HALF for us.

But it was not to be; Valpo hit their free throws down the stretch (ALL of them) and won in the end.