Author Archives: Jon Lowder

WSFCS Furlough Questions

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This morning I was reading in the Journal about the survey that the school system sent to teachers asking for their feedback about taking a one day furlough next year.  That one day would save the system $1 million, but the catch is that it would have to be taken on one of their professional days which is also known as "teacher work day" or in most households as "who am I gonna get to watch my kid today day".  That's because the school system is mandated to provide a certain number of instructional hours each year so they can't furlough the teachers on an instructional day.  After reading this I had a couple of questions:

  • The article mentioned a $9 million deficit so why wouldn't they propose two or three furlough days in order to save two or three million dollars?
  • The leader of the teacher's association said they are opposed to furloughs at this point because they know too little about next year's budget and they want to make sure that the schools have exhausted all other possibilities like program cuts. Good point, but when you read later in the article that employee salaries and benefits account for 90% of the budget you have to wonder exactly how much program cuts will add up to.  Given that it seems a reasonable question to ask about benefits.  In the private sector health benefits have been slashed over the last few years in order to better the bottom line.  How about for school system employees?  Would it make more sense to look at benefit packages for cost savings?

I don't want to sound like I'm ganging up on teachers because I truly admire what they do and having three kids in the system I truly appreciate what the good ones do every day (don't ask about the not so good).  Still, when you're looking at the economic realities you have to put everything on the table and I don't think it's unreasonable to look everywhere you can for savings.

Great Ways to See the ACC Tourney

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If you don't feel like watching the ACC tournament while nibbling on stale potato chips I have two recommendations for you.  First is seeing the game at the new Deacon Tower Grille which Esbee highlights over at Life in Forsyth.  Sounds way cool.  Second is to go by Unity Moravian on Saturday and partake of some fresh BBQ.  The doors open at 4:00 and close at 7:30. The games probably won't be on in the dining area, but there's carry out and you can watch the games from the confines of your own couch while horsing down the best BBQ in Forsyth County (personal opinion).  BTW, my oldest son and I will once again be chopping pork for the BBQ at Unity so come on by and say hi.

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Commuting

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Today was my first official day in the TAA office.  My first two days on the job were spent in DC at a conference so today I made the drive to the office for the first time that wasn't for an interview of some sort or another.  I live in Lewisville and the office is in Greensboro off of Wendover Avenue and the distance is almost exactly the distance I used to commute to work in DC.  Here's the big difference: it takes me about 35 minutes door-to-door here and on a good day it took 90 minutes in DC and on a bad day it could take as long as three hours.

35 minutes is actually a nice time block.  It will give me time to decompress and get my head straight for all the things I might need to do at home.  It will also allow me time to vent any frustrations I might have so if you see a big goofy guy beating the tar out of his steering wheel as he drives west on I-40 in the evening you'll know it's me.

Dell Shrinkage

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Dell lays off 300 from the Forsyth plant.  Dell has to repay certain incentives it received from various government entities if it doesn't employ 1,700 people by then end of 2010.  If I read the article right the layoffs bring Dell's employment numbers down from 1,400 to 1,100.  I wonder how many receipts and barcodes the city, county and state will have to send in to Dell to get their full rebate on January 1, 2011?

Challenges of Blackberry Blogging

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I’m in DC for a conference and for once I didn’t travel with a laptop. Since I have my Blackberry I have no problem keeping up with email but surfing Ze Web ain’t exactly easy. It’s also a pain to blog this way, but it beats toting around a laptop so I won’t complain too much.
Really the biggest hassle is that I can’t figure out how to link to anything with the mobile version of Typepad. I’ll bet it’s possible but I’ll be darned if I can figure it out.
FYI, if you’re in DC and are looking for a great dining experience you should check out Fogo de Chao on 11th and PA Ave. It’s a Brazilian restaurant that features 15 cuts of various meats (beef, lamb, pork and chicken) that the servers bring around and slice for you. They keep coming until you tell them to stop and unless you’re a vegetarian you’ll have a hard time asking them to stop. Honestly it’s some of the best meat I’ve ever eaten. Oh, and the salad bar is insane; hearts of palm, asparagus spears on steroids and vegetables I’ve never heard of before. I also highly recommend the dark Brazilian beer that I think was called Xingu. It’s not heavy at all and has a really unique flavor.Of course dinner and drinks tasted even better because the tab was being picked up by a sponsor. Believe me I enjoyed it while I could.

17

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March 7 is a fun day for me every year. Why? Because it’s Celeste’s and my anniversary and for 17 years it follow has followed the day that I almost have a heart attack at 11:00 P.M. You know, that’s when I have my “Oh crap” moment as I realize that once again I almost forgot the occassion and that I’ll be scrambling the next day to find an appropriate gift.
In the past we’ve celebrated our big day by having dinner at Zevely House as a couple or by taking the kids and celebrating as a family at River Birch Lodge to name just two. This year it will just be the two of us at Ryan’s. We’ve lived here for four and a half years and we haven’t eaten there yet so we’re looking forward to it.
Of course the weather is gorgeous today because I ordered it up as part of the celebration. You can all thank me later.

New Gig

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If you're a regular reader of this blog (I think there's about four of you) you might have noticed a drop in volume of posts this week.  There's a good reason. Actually, from my perspective there's a great reason.  After spending the last eight-ish years as a consultant I've re-entered the world of the gainfully employed.  On Monday I was offered, and accepted, the position of Executive Director of the Triad Apartment Association.  Since then I've been scrambling to get my ducks in a row before I start on Monday.  I'm very excited about the opportunity, although it means some fundamental changes in lifestyle.  To wit:

  • No more working in pajamas or sweats from the home office. 
  • Commuting to Greensboro. 
  • Shaving every day. 

Seriously, this is a very good thing for me.  I've long thought about taking on an Executive Director position and this is a great opportunity.  Wish me luck!

Playing Quarters (Not the drinking game)

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One of the problems with having a saturated septic field is that you really want to avoid putting any more water into it.  That becomes problematic when you have three teenagers, so we've been taking measures to limit our water use.  This week that's meant making a couple of trips to the laundromat to do mega-loads of laundry.  Consequently I've come to a few conclusions and realizations:

  • Our kids have too many clothes.  Seriously, how many sweatshirts does one boy need?  How many pairs of socks can one girl possibly use?  Sheesh.
  • Having your own, properly functioning washer and dryer at home is one of the great luxuries of modern living. 
  • Using a laundromat launches you out of your little cocoon of comfort.  Watching the people who obviously use the laundromat on a regular basis, evident by their systematic use of the machines to optimize both time and quarters, makes you realize exactly how easy you might have it. 
  • My habit of throwing my change in a box on my bedstand every night over the last couple of years has resulted in me accumulating something like $451 in quarters.  Those come in quite handy at a laundromat. 
  • I'm going to be pushing our septic contractor hard to get our system fixed ASAP.  Dragging clothes to the laundromat and worrying about every flush of the toilet is no fun.  
  • We've used the laundromat in Clemmons that's right next door to the food pantry.  Seeing people who are truly struggling definitely puts things in perspective.  All things considered having a funky septic system isn't really that big a problem so I'm going to stop whining about it.