Pressure Crack
That thing there on the right is a pressure crack (or part of one). It is a little nerveracking (I *think* that “nerveracking” is correct) when you are walking across a frozen lake and encounter a pressure crack. Am I on (in?) a subduction zone or not? *Not* to make light of the recent earthquake. Actually I think that’s what made the Uncly Uncle and I think of it.
As you might know by a post earlier this week, we walked across the lake to get breakfast at Little Boots, not drinks at the Pressure Crack Pub. The PCP is a fine establishment featuring karaoke and dancing. And, as the Twinz of Terror will tell you, you’d best not make even accidental eye contact with any of the women there because they will very likely ask you to dance! The Twinz are quite awkward when girlz besides their accomplices show a certain kind of interest. And that is a good thing.
Yes, I am feeling a bit better today. Actually, I was really okay yesterday. Just weary. I think Margaret has it right (yesterday’s comments). We *are* in a lot of caca right now. Everywhere. Maybe that’s why Chico’s thinks that brown is a color? The Great Lake State has been there for years. And problem solver/creative thinker is not *usually* synonymous with politician. I actually think that our newly elected Republican governor *has* problem solving skills (please don’t hit me until you hear me out) He is a businessman who has been involved in efforts to facilitate small businesses here on the Planet Ann Arbor. He is *not* a Christian conservative (or if he is, he doesn’t promote himself as such). I don’t vote for professed Christian conservatives. If I get it right, he had a lot of bi-partisan support during the election. In full disclosure, I was tempted to vote for him. After some deliberation, I voted for the Dem instead.
But. As Pooh said in yesterday’s comments, no way did the people give this guy a mandate to install emergency financial managers to the extent that he seems to want to do this. There was no talk about this during his campaign (of course). Now. Do we sometimes need emergency financial managers? I dunno. Maybe. Our school boards are what they are. I have seen the Planet Ann Arbor school board do what I think are some egregiously stupid things (but that would be a whole ‘nother blahg). This stuff would all be better if we were all paying attention. Attending meetings. Asking questions. Making our elected officials wiggle when they don’t have answers. But we don’t. I don’t. I’m dern taaarred when I get home from work. I don’t know where to go from here, but we all have to start paying more attention, in this case to local governmental boards. So that we can tell them en masse when they are making a horrible decision and maybe avoid the downslide into the clutches of an emergency financial manager.
Good luck to J&D in Lansing tomorrow and I love you too, Isa.
March 15th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
We should all support the use of emergency financial managers. If local officials are unwilling to get their fiscal houses in order, they need someone to step in, stop the politics and make the changes necessary. I’ll give you two prime examples:
1. The City of Pontiac
2. Detroit Public Schools
The City of Detroit is not far behind them.
-UU
March 15th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
How much do these emergency financial managers make? Perhaps it’s a volunteer position? Is it yet another expensive bureaucracy which will protect itself without fixing the problem? More questions than answers really. What will it take to wake us up from our complacency? I’m tired of it too but unsure about how to proceed and exhausted after work.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:23 am
It does sound to me, from what I’ve been reading, that the “emergency financial managers” are a sneaky, buried method to outlaw collective bargaining — you know, because the BUDGET is such an “emergency” and it’s *all* the fault of those pesky unions. (Who are cooincidentally the only larger source of campaign funding [democrat] to offset the likes of the huger corporate source [GOP] campaign funding). Sounds very underhanded to me.
March 16th, 2011 at 6:27 am
Not volunteers. Robert Bobb (Detroit) makes over $400K. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that there is *never* a need for an EMF. But some who are better informed than me think that this legislation will open up the door for EMFs all over our state. Although I think local school boards are often guilty of making poor decisions and mismanaging money, I don’t think having EMFs everywhere is the right direction to take.
March 17th, 2011 at 12:47 am
I believe it should be “nervewracking”, but the term is correct.
March 17th, 2011 at 12:48 am
Er…it occurred to me that I could easily search that…
The internet says “nerve-wracking”.