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Rick2

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Posts posted by Rick2

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Yeah, the money is real nice but the work is tough. I'd much rather be washing than plowing. It's really bad when equiptment breaks down in the middle of a bad storm. Welding and cutting in a No'easter can get on your nerves something crazy. Been there and done that way too many times.

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Several of my friends that snowplow with me carry guns in their trucks. We are usually out late at night and carry quite a bit of cash from customers that pay us in cash. I perfer checks. Only once did my friend have to pull his gun a someone. He was plowing a parking lot when someone ran up to his truck and opened the passanger door. Jim pulled his gun and that's all it took for that guy to go running off in the other direction.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Some years back the police used to park their cars around the back, out of sight because they didn’t want to make an impression to the public that a police presence was necessary at a public school. These days, with the public more aware of school conditions, the police park their cars out front so they will be easily seen by the public. A type of assurance I guess.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    If anyone likes to listen to audiobooks while ther're working you must visit this site. It has hundreds of audiobooks, all free to download. Be sure that the book you choose to download is compleated. Some are still a work in progress. www.podiobooks.com

    Another great site in the Internet Archive. Thousands of free downloads that are mostly OTR (Old Time Radio) www.archive.org/details/radioprograms

    You'll have to spend a little time looking through this site because they have so many things on it. All free downloads.

  9. Posted · Edited by Rick2 · Report reply

    I think it’s called “learned dependency” or something like that.

    Capable of making a living and willing to make a living are two different things. I have a niece that will sleep with anything that has a pulse and has numerous “*******” children. Okay with her because the government pays for them all. Never let her on you home property because she will “fall” and sue your homeowners insurance. On the other hand her brother works his butt off to get where he wants. Most people I know work two jobs especially if they work for the city. My brother whom is a policeman works as a welder for his second job. My other brother is a fireman and owns a landscaping company. We are all capable and willing to work. Not everyone is.

  11. Posted · Edited by Rick2 · Report reply

    Alternative schools are 1 stop short of juvy or prison around here.There are plenty of kids in our school system that receive what their parents refer to as a "crazy check" because they were taught from an early age if they misbehave in school momma and daddy if there is 1 get a check for them.

    Beth I understand your sensitivity to the situation,but I don't think Rick was trying to offend you or anyone else who has a child with special circumstances.

    That's exactly what we call them here, a crazy check. BTW, I work in School B.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    When they get expelled they have to be placed in another environment by law, let’s call that “School B.” The problem is School B become increasingly populated with the expelled students. Most children that become expelled don’t learn poor behavior on their own, they are exposed to it at home. Now School B is increasing in size not with just children that are expelled due to behavior issues but the parents that “brought” them there. You may think this is just another blanket statement but I can assure you that when I have to deal with a student that is normally out of control the chances are that mom and dad were never nominated for the Parent of the Year award.

    When I lived in Japan they had the same system. Believe me, they have their share of problems too. Kids with behavior issues were removed from school and sent to “private” schools. It was more like warehousing them to keep their influences out of the public schools. Huge disgrace for most of the parents. Does it work? I guess it works to a point. We’ve all heard how much higher their test scores are compared to that of the USA. There’s another side to that too. When they compare test results Japan does not include those children in “private” school where we include all children.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I have always been one to stand up for the proverbial underdog. That is who I am, and it's not going to change. Your post struck a nerve. Still does. And I still feel your post was a blatant stereotype. I'm a mom - if you don't get it, oh well.

    Beth

    No, I don't get it but I can live with it.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Beth, you’re missing the focus of my post. I’m not trying to stereotype here, just stating the facts. Do you deny people abuse the system? If not, where do you think this abuse is more common, the inner city or the more affluent areas? I guess I’m not as much as an optimist as you are. I believe every child has the ability to achieve but I also know that every child will not achieve. Hopefully this will be the minority of the population.

    As far as stereotype go, well many are true and some are not. I’m sure you’ll attack me for that statement too. Take for example CPW’s post on illegal immigrants. Do you think they all come here to find jobs and a better life? Some do but look at the population in American prisons and you may be surprised at the percentage of illegals from Mexico. I’ll bet they didn’t come here to study medicine. But I’ll say it again, it’s not all like that. My wife is an immigrant from Eastern Europe and in the 8 years she has been in the country she has worked her way up from being a dispatcher with Comcast to running the Comcast phone network between Massachusetts and Connecticut. If she can do it why can’t others. Simple, they lack the drive. You and Ron run a successful business. Did someone do all the work for you? I doubt it. You and most (if not all) others on this site had a dream of owning their own business and made it happen, we weren’t looking for handouts.

    I can’t understand why you take it as a personal attack about my stand on IEPs. Your son had an IEP, so what. I sure there was a ligament reason for it. You keep stressing the fact that he’s very intelligent and made honors with a standing ovation. That’s great, really is, but I never said or even remotely implied anything different. To say I stereotype everyone with an IEP as a cheat and “damn the parents” is totally uncalled for.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Shame on me? Beth, I’m just telling it the way I see it from first hand experience. I know my job and I know it well. Do you think I’m fabricating all this? I’m not attacking every child that has been issued an IEP. There are children that greatly benefit from an IEP. My problem is with the parents who work the system in order to receive undeserved money at their child’s expense. And yes, they do know how to play the game. I don’t know what kind of school your child went to but I work in the inner city area, I doubt it is similar to yours.

    As for being a parent I have been blessed with a healthy boy that is now three years old. He will not attend public schools.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Well Ron, that’s a tough call. School violence seems to be at an all time high these days. I don’t think many of us are surprised anymore when we hear of another shooting in the public schools. Normally it is gang related or boyfriend/girlfriend conflicts. It is very easy for a student to bring a weapon of choice into the building. Metal detectors are not always operational and sometimes the walk-through types are only there for show. If a student wants to bypass the detectors they will leave the weapon hidden outside of the school and retrieve it when they go outside for lunch. Random locker searches are sometimes effective but they still are random.

    Aside from my 15 (16?) years as a power washer I am also a math and science middle school teacher. In my 17 years as a teacher I have personally witnessed a large variety of weapons brought into my public middle school. Handguns, tons of knives, and even a shotgun two years ago. Last year I found a .38 in one of my student’s backpack. These are just the things I know about but I’m sure there’s much more that goes on that I’m not aware of. Needless to say this type of thing never makes the news. My brother is a K9 police officer in my city and is often at my school doing drug searches or arresting a student. We average one or two arrests each day in school.

    The kids have no fear of the law and consider it a rite of passage if they have to do time in lockup. It literally gives them something to brag about. Law enforcement is thought of as a joke in my school. It’s nothing for a kid to say F.U. Mr. Morrow but they will even do that to the police stationed in my building. Our hands are tied when it comes to discipline in the schools. I’d like to thank the lawyers for that one! Some might argue that we can just suspend the student. Not really. Parents know how to play the game too. Just get the kid on an IEP (Individual Education Program). Reasons for this can be as simple as ADD. Once on an IEP the parents get a check from the government every month for 500 dollars or more and the student cannot be suspended for more than 10 days a year. When you have that kid for 180 days out of the year, 10 days is a complete joke.

    It is also very hard to fail a failing student because of their “disability.” I’ll fail a kid for the year but the office will change it to a passing grade.

    In short there’s nothing much to keep a student from coming into my class and putting a bullet in my head. I don’t know if allowing teachers permission to carry is the answer. I honestly don’t know what the answer is.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Mostly I listen to Podcasts and Audiobooks. I love to listen to the horror stories while I'm working. Comedy is great too. Check out "The Distorted View", "The Dr. Rock Show", and "Sick and Wrong". These are my favorites. Not rated for children. Actually I wouldn't even let my wife listen to the "Distorted View."

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