While John Hildebrand is usually disdainful of teachers as a whole and Newsday isn't worth the paper it's printed on, this particular commentary from Mr. Hildebrand in Newsday today is heart-warming. It is not only positive towards teachers but towards the William Floyd School District, something our area needs after the NYT's smear campaign. Thank you to them and to our local teachers and teachers union.
If you don't feel like reading it, what you should know is Wm Floyd teachers have re-negotiated their contract down 1% for this year to help keep jobs and programs for our children. What they get in return is an extension on their current contract for one additional year guaranteeing them a 2.5% increase for the 2010-2011 school year.
The almost 2% hike in our property taxes is going to hurt like hell, especially on top of Gov Paterson cancelling STAR rebates. To be clear on how little money there is to work with, "The district's property and income wealth is less than half the state average." (Newsday)
When I said people in our area have heart, this is what I referred to.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-liteac2212677876apr21,0,7595152.story
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Slums of Long Island? Not really.
It's been a nagging thought in the back of my mind since my husband found the article two Sundays ago. The NYT published a story about how horrible Mastic, Mastic Beach and Shirley are. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/realestate/05livi.html
Let me just tell you that in 7 years we haven't found our end of town to be like this. We live in what they call the Tangiers section of Shirley. We are within a 1/2 of our elementary school, while we get weekly and at times twice weekly sex offender notices we know there are none next door. Well actually there's no one next door, it's an unimproved lot. We have plenty of deer stop by though.
What the story doesn't tell is how hard residents are fighting really hard to get these towns cleaned up. The conditions are unacceptable, but do not ever believe residents are okay with the status quo. What has failed is our local government, not our population as a whole. I would think sex offenders are perceived much more dangerous than the immigrants in Farmingville. But that might just be me, a mom with two daughters. Why do they keep getting placed here? Why is there no oversight? And why hasn't anyone truly acknowledged our plight? I think it's a mentality difference, the desire to fight for what you want and need vs expecting things to be done for you. Hence the idea of incorporating to take control of what is ours vs parading with signs on street corners.
What struck me in the article and in the comments was the notion that people out here are lesser beings. That is the biggest misconception I've ever heard. How would I know? Well, I grew up in Nesconset, went to Smithtown High School, lived in Middle Island and Farmingville before buying our house here in Shirley. I've seen all ends of the spectrum, lived and worked with the people. Yes, here they might not be in the height of fashion, or have all their teeth, but they're not bad people. I had nastier customers in Setauket, more truly disgusting men coming in shirtless then out here. And I worked the early shift - 6am in the morning - so I saw most of the local contractors a few times a week, if not daily. They acknowledge you and accept you, unlike in Setauket where you are there to serve. I had more men offer to lift things, carry things and move things in Shirley - even before I was pregnant.
What else the article doesn't mention for us has been a saving grace. The special ed department in the Wm Floyd District for preschool has been amazing. When I backed out of the CPSE testing to try early intervention one last time, the director called and basically reamed me out for not going through with things. She calmed down when I explained. And she was the one who didn't hesitate to start my daughter in the summer session, who approved intense speech therapy and other evaluations and subsequently adding occupational therapy. I was terrified to go to my first CPSE meeting, especially after hearing horror stories. We almost hired a pro to go in with us. After that first meeting I've had little cause for concern.
It's really sad that a fighting community has gotten such a bad write up from the Times. There are worse areas than ours, with less dumped on them than ours, that got prettier write-ups. So why are we only good for the beaches and a pit stop to the East End? The area might not be as pretty as some, or as wealthy as some, but it has heart. And that is truly rare.
Let me just tell you that in 7 years we haven't found our end of town to be like this. We live in what they call the Tangiers section of Shirley. We are within a 1/2 of our elementary school, while we get weekly and at times twice weekly sex offender notices we know there are none next door. Well actually there's no one next door, it's an unimproved lot. We have plenty of deer stop by though.
What the story doesn't tell is how hard residents are fighting really hard to get these towns cleaned up. The conditions are unacceptable, but do not ever believe residents are okay with the status quo. What has failed is our local government, not our population as a whole. I would think sex offenders are perceived much more dangerous than the immigrants in Farmingville. But that might just be me, a mom with two daughters. Why do they keep getting placed here? Why is there no oversight? And why hasn't anyone truly acknowledged our plight? I think it's a mentality difference, the desire to fight for what you want and need vs expecting things to be done for you. Hence the idea of incorporating to take control of what is ours vs parading with signs on street corners.
What struck me in the article and in the comments was the notion that people out here are lesser beings. That is the biggest misconception I've ever heard. How would I know? Well, I grew up in Nesconset, went to Smithtown High School, lived in Middle Island and Farmingville before buying our house here in Shirley. I've seen all ends of the spectrum, lived and worked with the people. Yes, here they might not be in the height of fashion, or have all their teeth, but they're not bad people. I had nastier customers in Setauket, more truly disgusting men coming in shirtless then out here. And I worked the early shift - 6am in the morning - so I saw most of the local contractors a few times a week, if not daily. They acknowledge you and accept you, unlike in Setauket where you are there to serve. I had more men offer to lift things, carry things and move things in Shirley - even before I was pregnant.
What else the article doesn't mention for us has been a saving grace. The special ed department in the Wm Floyd District for preschool has been amazing. When I backed out of the CPSE testing to try early intervention one last time, the director called and basically reamed me out for not going through with things. She calmed down when I explained. And she was the one who didn't hesitate to start my daughter in the summer session, who approved intense speech therapy and other evaluations and subsequently adding occupational therapy. I was terrified to go to my first CPSE meeting, especially after hearing horror stories. We almost hired a pro to go in with us. After that first meeting I've had little cause for concern.
It's really sad that a fighting community has gotten such a bad write up from the Times. There are worse areas than ours, with less dumped on them than ours, that got prettier write-ups. So why are we only good for the beaches and a pit stop to the East End? The area might not be as pretty as some, or as wealthy as some, but it has heart. And that is truly rare.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
My iPod, My Kitchen & Adam Lambert...
Let me just start by saying I will not play Adam Lambert on my iPod while cooking any time again soon.
It was 9:30 in the morning, my husband had the girls, and I had to make some food for our Easter dinners. So I did what I always do when there's peace and quiet - I turned the radio up. I would like to preface this by saying I am not an American Idol fanatic - seriously, just because I can tell you what Paula will say before she says it, can't most of America too?!? I'm not a big voter, although David Cook did inspire my fingers to do some dialing. So I would say I am a fan. My iPod has a great blend of Kelly Clarkson, Jordan Sparks, Blake Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Phil Stacey, David Cook, Jason Castro, Michael Johns and Brooke White. And now I've added Adam, Allison and Anoop.
Anyway, my latest fave on AI is Adam Lambert. My thing with new music is to just listen until I get it stuck in my head really well. Like with Bon Jovi, I don't have to hear it with my ears, it's in my head, so if the beaters are going and I can't hear it, no big deal. The problem is my iPod is schizophrenic. Really. It just played Bonnie Tyler, Phil Collins, Bon Jovi, Will Smith, George Michael, Miley Cirus in that order. Randy Travis should pop up soon. So if I want to hear something I really just have to put it on. And since I had Adam on in the car yesterday, "Mad World" was stuck in my head - yeah, probably not the best thing to be stuck on. So I put his music on.
On my to do list was angel food cake, pudding pie, sauce and lasagna - nothing challenging what-so-ever in my book. I can do most with my eyes closed. Yeah, well, not while I'm focusing on something else. I get the angel food cake in the oven, using a mini-bunt cake pan (makes 4 mini cakes). It crossed my mind to put a baking sheet under it, but like I was saying, I was a little focused on the music.
Now you'll have to picture what's going on in my kitchen. I simply rolled out of bed, tied my hair up and dove into the cooking. So I'm in my nightgown, barefoot, hair sticking up in every direction. Now add to that, I am tone deaf. So no matter how good you sing - or how bad you sing - if I like the beat and the lyrics you're in. And no, I have no rhythm, so my girls bop to music better than I do.
I get the angel food cake in the oven, start the pudding mix, Adam's still doing his thing. The thing is, like I said, I'm still learning his stuff, so I'm not singing along, I'm just listening. Then the scent of burnt cake starts - yup, the cake overflowed, and since I was too distracted to put the pan underneath there is sticky angel food cake batter dripping down my oven grates into the oven.
Thankfully, at this point the music stops. I get everything under control - I'm a mom of two toddlers, I can handle it! I reset the iPod for my normal mix and now my kitchen is a heavenly blend of sweet cake (of course I saved it!), zesty garlic, pungent fresh basil and tomato sauce. Since I need to grate cheese I am hoping my iPod is nice to me so there won't be any skin in the mix!
And since you're probably wondering if I am tone deaf, what about Adam makes him a fave? I'm sure you get with David Cook it was the beat. Adam, however, has pretty blue eyes and really nice teeth. Go ahead laugh. Maybe it's superficial, but since I'm sure he'll get a good laugh that part of his demographic is married, tone deaf, stay-at-home mom's in pj's, I'm not going to beat myself up over it!
It was 9:30 in the morning, my husband had the girls, and I had to make some food for our Easter dinners. So I did what I always do when there's peace and quiet - I turned the radio up. I would like to preface this by saying I am not an American Idol fanatic - seriously, just because I can tell you what Paula will say before she says it, can't most of America too?!? I'm not a big voter, although David Cook did inspire my fingers to do some dialing. So I would say I am a fan. My iPod has a great blend of Kelly Clarkson, Jordan Sparks, Blake Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Phil Stacey, David Cook, Jason Castro, Michael Johns and Brooke White. And now I've added Adam, Allison and Anoop.
Anyway, my latest fave on AI is Adam Lambert. My thing with new music is to just listen until I get it stuck in my head really well. Like with Bon Jovi, I don't have to hear it with my ears, it's in my head, so if the beaters are going and I can't hear it, no big deal. The problem is my iPod is schizophrenic. Really. It just played Bonnie Tyler, Phil Collins, Bon Jovi, Will Smith, George Michael, Miley Cirus in that order. Randy Travis should pop up soon. So if I want to hear something I really just have to put it on. And since I had Adam on in the car yesterday, "Mad World" was stuck in my head - yeah, probably not the best thing to be stuck on. So I put his music on.
On my to do list was angel food cake, pudding pie, sauce and lasagna - nothing challenging what-so-ever in my book. I can do most with my eyes closed. Yeah, well, not while I'm focusing on something else. I get the angel food cake in the oven, using a mini-bunt cake pan (makes 4 mini cakes). It crossed my mind to put a baking sheet under it, but like I was saying, I was a little focused on the music.
Now you'll have to picture what's going on in my kitchen. I simply rolled out of bed, tied my hair up and dove into the cooking. So I'm in my nightgown, barefoot, hair sticking up in every direction. Now add to that, I am tone deaf. So no matter how good you sing - or how bad you sing - if I like the beat and the lyrics you're in. And no, I have no rhythm, so my girls bop to music better than I do.
I get the angel food cake in the oven, start the pudding mix, Adam's still doing his thing. The thing is, like I said, I'm still learning his stuff, so I'm not singing along, I'm just listening. Then the scent of burnt cake starts - yup, the cake overflowed, and since I was too distracted to put the pan underneath there is sticky angel food cake batter dripping down my oven grates into the oven.
Thankfully, at this point the music stops. I get everything under control - I'm a mom of two toddlers, I can handle it! I reset the iPod for my normal mix and now my kitchen is a heavenly blend of sweet cake (of course I saved it!), zesty garlic, pungent fresh basil and tomato sauce. Since I need to grate cheese I am hoping my iPod is nice to me so there won't be any skin in the mix!
And since you're probably wondering if I am tone deaf, what about Adam makes him a fave? I'm sure you get with David Cook it was the beat. Adam, however, has pretty blue eyes and really nice teeth. Go ahead laugh. Maybe it's superficial, but since I'm sure he'll get a good laugh that part of his demographic is married, tone deaf, stay-at-home mom's in pj's, I'm not going to beat myself up over it!
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