Wisconsin in the News

How refreshing it is that Wisconsin makes the National news stage for our political disagreements instead of the most recent abusive parent or serial killer news? If only Governor Walker hadn't mentioned beer and brats in his victory speech! Talk about setting stereotypes back a step.

But his talk about working together is nice and he also half admitted not asking for advice on how he went about shutting down collective bargaining. I felt that was a small white flag towards the future improvements he's promised.

75% voter turn out is fantastic--you shouldn't be complaining if you didn't vote. Every vote matters! Just ask Senator Wanggaard of Racine....it appears as though he is losing by 800 votes.

It really is too bad we have the expense of this recall to shoulder, but that is what democracy is all about. Too bad we don't get much of a break with ads, protests or political phone calls either....they will just shift from state politics to National politics with the presidential election on the horizon.

I sure appreciate living in the free world!

Literacy Services

I was invited to the Literacy Services luncheon today at the Pfister Hotel. I used to be more involved with this group, participating in an annual spelling bee and once, assisting with a book fair.

This is one luncheon I love attending. The student's stories are very inspiring to hear and the organization rocks it out of the ballpark on so many levels. They have programs to teach anyone how to read, to teach someone where English is their second language and they also assist student's who are going for their GED.

The time commitment is 90 minutes per week...I'd love to do it if I could find someone to alternate weeks with me. That would only be two nights per month and that doesn't seem so hard from a time commitment standpoint.

Every year I feel like I should do more. Give money, or volunteer my time....I cannot imagine not being able to read. Not to be able to read a road sign, read your child's homework, notes from the teachers, or their report cards. Reading is my escape. It takes me back in time, it surrounds me in Gothic romance, a scintillating mystery, or a silly comedy. It is how I tune out my long day in the office.

Time to step it up...what shall I do?

Statistics

As a certified Six Sigma black belt, I have to say that I love all things statistics. When I see pundit polls, bar charts or percentages in print, my pleasure meter goes into overdrive being the devil's advocate to decipher what is in print and look at the stats from another viewpoint. Angles the average viewer would not know or care to think about. Imagine my surprise to find that Google keeps track of who is viewing my blog and where they are found around the globe. As someone who had an emphasis in Geography for my undergrad, it was cool, but also a bit weird to see that three people in Russia viewed my blog, or four from Brazil. Even more weird were the folks from Egypt reading my blog. Hmmm. There are Packer Fans all over...or perhaps because I mention menopause in my intro. Or they are folks like me--nosey, interested individuals who like to read what others write about when they feel the urge to be creative and publish their thoughts. Yeah, I'll go with that one....other thoughts I have are too disturbing to publish!