Did I take out the garbage?

The issue with the garbage is not really that I mind doing the work. I’m 45, trying to stay in shape, but carrying around a few extra pounds. I have a “desk” job and any excuse to stand or move around is only making me healthier. Parenting is a constant struggle between what you can do and what you should do. In this case, I opted to take out the garbage because it was late and my son had done the shoveling. Next week I won’t be so forgiving.

Darrell N. (see previous blog comments) reminds me of my father. Growing up, I thought at times he was a little too hard on me but now realize he loved me enough to make me unhappy when it was for my own good. Maybe I should send my sons over to Darrell for a while. Forget sending them to my father. As a grandfather, he is much different. He would carry the garbage to the dump if his grandsons asked.

But one good turn deserves another. I was in a bind Thursday and asked my wife to pick up my dry cleaning. I hated to ask because moms work harder than anyone. Not only did she do it, but she did it happily. So today I am wearing a clean shirt and not some recycled one. I guess that is what family is all about. My sons shovel while I am at work, I do the garbage when I get home and my wife bails me out with the dry cleaning.

Have a great weekend. I’ll be spending most of it driving my kids and their friends around, longing for Mon-day when I return to my “easy” job at the Record-Journal.

Did they shovel?

When I returned home last night at about 8:15 I found my sons had done the shoveling. Most importantly, I hadn't prompted or reminded them to do it. I find that if you remind them too much they don't learn anything.

But there is more to the story. After heading out for a brief workout at the local YMCA, I returned home at around 10 p.m. to find that my oldest had forgotten to take out the garbage. Since he was already in bed, I had two options. Take out the garbage and be done with it. Don't take out the garbage and then make him come to the dump with me on Saturday and pay the charge out of his own pocket. What do you think I did? What do you think I should have done?

I liked all the suggestion made in the previous blog although I think removing their bedroom doors would be more of punishment for my wife and I.

Update on my snow problems

Recently I wrote about people who don’t bother to clear all the snow off their vehicles and prefer to get if off by accelerating along I-91, blowing snow and ice on my windshield . This morning was the first time I can remember not having the problem as I drove along the highway. There were plenty of SUV’s and tractor trailers in front of me. Miraculously, they were all cleared. Hopefully the drive home will be trouble free.
On another snow issue. As I left for work this morning, my teen-age sons were comfortably settled in on the couch watching TV. I reminded them that since I was working and they were off from school, they should do the shoveling and not leave it for me to do after work. One said “OK” but it sounded like that OK that teenagers speak when they really aren’t paying attention and just want you to go away. The other grumbled about his brother. “I’m not going to shovel if he isn’t going to help.”
On previous snow days, they’ve sometimes done the shoveling. Other times they’ve left it for me. I’ll let you know tomorrow how I make out. Feel free to offer your predictions or your tips on how to get teen-agers to shovel.

Powder Puff Awards

A follow up to my last blog on Sunday’s banquet for the 2008 Lyman Hall Powder Puff team. Awards were given out at the event. The dirty sock that accompanies each award plaque is a sock worn by various players throughout practice sessions and never washed. (I hope I have that right. If not, someone blog in and clarify). Here is the list of award winners. Congratulations to all.

Defensive "Dirty Sock" Co-MVP
#1 Christina O'Byrne
Defensive "Dirty Sock" Co-MVP
#32 Kristen Cummings
Defensive "Dirty Sock" Award
#90 Olivia Quinn
Offensive "Dirty Sock" Award
#85 Cayla Lang
Offensive "Dirty Sock" Award
#00 Ellery Andrews
O-Line "Dirty Sock" Award
#91 Sam Demauro
Special Teams "Dirty Sock" Award
#42 Amber Trziensky
Coaches "Dirty Sock" Award
#03 Adria Buonocore
Overall "Dirty Sock" MVP Offense/Special Teams
#15 Morelle Marra

Powder Puff banquet

I had the pleasure of speaking at Sunday night’s Lyman Hall Powder Puff awards banquet for the 2008 team. The turnout (around 150 players and parents) and the camaraderie was impressive. It reminded me that the game was started to encourage senior girls to get to know classmates outside their social circle. Since the game is nearly 40 years old, there were about 10 girls in attendance whose moms had also played powder puff. Maybe next year we can do a mother-daughter article before the big game.
The stories told by players, coaches and former coaches were great. I shared some of my own memories of covering and watching the game. If you have a powder puff memory you would like to share, please post it here. Leave your name and class if you would like. I’ll try to read some on my daily video.

The frigid temps are getting to me

I’ve mentioned to a couple of people today that this frigid weather is getting me down. Last night, my son was busy studying for mid-terms so I decided to help by taking the garbage out. Usually I enjoy pinch hitting on garbage duty because it’s an excuse to take a walk outside around 9 p.m. I usually pause and look at the stars and moon and enjoy how tranquil the neighborhood is at night. But last night I ran from the house to the curb, shivering the entire time and wishing I hadn’t offered to help. I had the same feeling earlier in the day when I went out to attend my son’s basketball game and finally when I walked across the R-J parking lot at around 8 p.m. Anytime you have to go outside you just want to hurry and get back inside. The frigid temps also prevent me from cracking the windows at home for even an hour or two to let the fresh air in. After a few days of not opening windows, I can smell the trapped air. How are you holding up this winter? Any advice on dealing with the cold?

Meriden school budget well meaning, but unrealistic

I respect the Meriden school board’s right to recommend a 5.9 percent increase for the next fiscal year, but fear the approach is going to hurt students in the long run. By sending City Hall an unrealistic request they have passed the buck to the city manager and city council. I’m sure City Manager Larry Kendzior would like the school system to get everything it wants. Ditto for the city council. This year, however, the revenue is not there. It would be cruel for the council to raise taxes substantially in the midst of a recession. I’m afraid all the school board and school administration has done with this request is tick off Kendzior and the council, which isn’t going to help kids.
I’m also afraid that the hard feelings that developed during last year’s school budget process have not subsided. Why else would the school board put the city manager and city council in an impossible situation? This year former Mayor Mark Benigni is not around to mediate the dispute. I’m sure current Mayor Mike Rohde will try, but even Benigni (an educator himself) was not very successful last year and it appears the situation may have worsened.
I’d suggest that Kendzior, Rohde, a council representative and school board president Mark Hughes meet and discuss the situation. If after that meeting, the board wants to stick with the 5.9 percent increase, fine. Perhaps a compromise will emerge. One thing is certain. The school board is not going to get anything close to 5.9 percent. Let me know what you think.

Easy solution to uptown parking shortage

Today’s story about Café’Ra moving into an empty space near the corner of North Main and Center streets in Wallingford left me scratching my head. Everyone agrees there is not enough parking in an area with several popular restaurants. Usually municipalities can’t do much to help because the surrounding property is all in private hands. In this case, however, the town has owned a nearby piece of property, known as Wooding-Caplan, for about 15 years. Do we have to wait another 15 years for the mayor and council to use some of the property for parking that would help these restaurants? Let me know what you think?

Winter pet peeves

Everyone has their own pet peeve about how others deal with the snow. There was a forum thread earlier this winter on people snowmobiling in the streets without drawing much attention from the police. Historically, one of the most common complaints voiced in our letters to the editor section during the winter involves those who blow snow off their walk and driveway and onto the street. I’ve seen people jogging nearly in the middle of the road during heavy snow at night and have heard from others who have witnessed the same. I admire and encourage exercise, but running in the road during a snowstorm, even with reflective gear, is dangerous for runners and motorists.

My own personal top pet peeve is people who don’t bother to clear the snow off their vehicle and then get on the highway and let it blow off on the vehicles behind them. After each storm, I’ve marveled at the amount of snow and ice that people leave on their roof because they are too lazy to reach up and clear it. A couple of weeks ago, an approximately 3-foot chunk of ice from the roof of an SUV struck my windshield so hard I ducked. Luckily, the windshield remained intact. This morning as I was driving on the connector to exit 13 of I-91 northbound. I saw a car pull on ahead of me and knew it was going to be a problem. The driver had cleared his windshield, but nothing else. So when he started to accelerate on the connector he created blizzard conditions for the driver behind him who happened to be me. About a week ago a tractor trailer that hadn’t been cleared was blowing snow all over the three northbound lanes of I-91 as it approached exit 15. I got excited because I noticed a state police cruiser ahead and thought for sure that cop would pull the truck over. No such luck.
Enough about my pet peeve. Tell me about yours.

Give them some salt!

Wallingford Town Councilor John LeTourneau is not the kind of elected official who speaks first and thinks later. You may not always agree with John, but you can’t accuse him of political grandstanding. So when he asks public works to make some rock salt available for residents to help make driveways and sidewalks a little safer, he deserves better than the immediate rebuff he received from Public Works Director Henry McCully and his boss Mayor Bill Dickinson. I agree with McCully and Dickinson’s point that the town cannot make an unlimited amount of salt available to the public free of charge. I don’t think that is what LeTourneau and other councilors were suggesting. A simple system could be instituted, say one 5-gallon bucket of material per vehicle. When the pile set aside for the public runs out in any given week, the give-away is over.

It is the little things that government does for people that mean the most. For example, I’ve never been thrilled with Wallingford hosting the trash plant. The pill is easier to swallow because of the town recycling center. Along with dumping leaves and brush and other household recyclables, I’m able to pick up a few buckets of compost from the pile they leave for the public. On a recent weekend in the fall, I’d lost track of time and the new hours and showed up with an SUV full of bagged leaves. I pulled up to dump them and a worker came over to tell me that the area had closed about a half hour earlier. I was preparing the pull away when he sized up my load and the time it would take me to unload and load the SUV again and told me to go ahead and dump them and even gave me a hand. It took him less than two minutes. The goodwill has lasted months. I’m sure a little salt might have the same effect. Let me know what you think.

Wallingford officials need to take responsibility for rate hikes

A suggestion for Wallingford’s Public Utilities Commission, the mayor and other local officials: Stop trying to blame everyone else for the decision to announce a 9 percent rate increase on Dec. 23. In the midst of one of the worst economic situations in more than a decade and two days before Christmas, it was cruel to announce a hike. To make matters worse, at the time of the announcement, the only thing falling faster than the stock market, was the price of oil. This left the average customer scratching his or her head.

Instead of deciding to pass the costs along to customers now, the mayor and PUC should have used reserves to hold off the increase for at least a few months. Perhaps at the point, things might have improved on the power front or the economic front.

Like all Wallingford residents I understand that we pay less for power than customers of the big utility companies. And like all Wallingford customers, my rate payments have funded the electric division and allowed it to survive. If we are going to have a municipal electric division in Wallingford, then there has to be some local control and accountability. That includes, taking responsibility for price increases and the incredibly insensitive way the latest ones were announced. When times were good, the mayor, PUC and other elected officials took credit for having the foresight to maintain a municipal electric division. When things go bad, they claim it isn't their fault. Let me know what you think?

Billboard benefits Meriden Humane Society

An interesting forum discussion has started on today’s front page story on using a city-owned billboard to raise revenue for the Meriden Humane Society. Just click on the Forum icon and then “Today’s Posts” and you will find the complete story and forum discussion. In the article, it is clear that not everyone at City Hall wants to give all the money to the Humane Society. On the forum, there are also differing opinions. I’d vote to give most or all the money to the society for now. The reality is if it is going to remain a no kill shelter it is going to need a steady revenue stream to pay its bills.

The location of the billboard is also an issue. There is billboard not far from the Humane Society property along I-91 that advertises an adult video store in Hartford. If Meriden residents have to live with that billboard, why not another that raises revenue for the city. One suggestion, City Hall may want to look into its ability to regulate the types of businesses that advertise on its billboard. I’m not sure another one promoting an adult video store would work. Let me know what you think.

How much would you cut?

Cheshire School Superintendent Greg Florio’s budget is a sign of how difficult it will be for towns to pay for school and other municipal services in the 2009-10 fiscal year. A superintendent’s budget is normally a starting point. Florio starts with a 3.98 percent increase that eliminates five teaching positions and 10 other support jobs. To the average person, 3.98 percent doesn’t sound like a small increase. Keep in mind that Florio is probably expecting the school board, town manager and town council to all trim the request.

I predict most municipal budgets (that includes school funding) will probably call for zero to 2 percent growth. The revenue is not going to be there to support more. I also don’t think most elected officials planning to run in November 2009 can expect to win if they don’t hold the line on spending. In fact, I expect town councilors and mayors to be tripping over each other to show voters just how tough they can be on spending. Unfortunately jobs are probably going to have to be eliminated. Hopefully it can be done through attrition and buyouts.

Let me know what you think. Is a 2 percent increase going to be acceptable to residents? If not, what number would you choose? Also, list the services you think should be eliminated to lessen the tax burden.

Donovan photos on MyRecordJournal

If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out the photo gallery of Chris Donovan’s big day Wednesday. When Donovan was elected Speaker of the House, R-J chief photographer Chris Zajac was there to capture all the action, including family and friends. You can find the photos on the Newspaper Photo section of the web site or under Local News.
As someone who has known Donovan since he first appeared on the political scene, it is not hard to understand his rise to the second most powerful position in state government. Chris takes his work seriously, but never takes himself too seriously. He is painfully down to earth and would rather give credit to others than take it. I’ve always enjoyed running into him when I’m off duty because he likes to talk about things like sports, music and family and has never been one to do a lot of griping about coverage. It’s hard not to like Chris even when you vehemently disagree with him. I’m guessing there were quite a few Republicans that were happy for him on Wednesday. Congratulations Chris.