I burned toast this morning....

and I mean I burned it badly -- the smoke detector went off and I had to open the front door to let some of the smoke out. I can't remember the last time I did something like that. (At least it covered up some of the mildewy smell -- for a while.)

See the tree that's lying in the street? That's one of the ones that fell on our house. Big tree. I hope they pick it up soon. They say that the amount of debris they've picked up so far would fill Tiger Stadium -- up to the highest seats. And yet there's still more -- lots more. On the way to get my hair done this morning a light was out on Sherwood. At least there was a policeman directing traffic. For some reason red lights were out again today in my part of town. I don't pity the Houston area. It's a mess getting banks and stores back open -- not to mention service stations. Power's necessary for most of those places to do business and when they can't open for days, your supply of food and money dwindles and it wears on the mind. Days run together and you find yourself mixing up tenses in your sentences. At least everyone understands. Now, if I can just find someone to fix the back of my house! I hate having it open to the elements....and the mold and mildew.

On top of all this bullsh*t, I heard something this morning that makes me almost want to give up. Our city's school system is in crisis -- that's not a surprise, it's what they want to do about it that's stunning. The state's ready to take over many individual schools because of declining test scores. So....here's the plan. In order to make it appear that schools have improved (rather than declined) their test scores, they want to be allowed to use the test scores of students who should be attending those schools but are instead attending magnet schools. You know -- those are (in general) the students whose parents insist they do their homework, whose parents are involved, and whose parents set (and pattern) standards.

*I know what I just said is a generalization and not a universal truth but, all the same, I think it's a big part of the problem.

Wouldn't that (using test scores of students who don't attend that school) be lying? Wouldn't it mislead parents who look at those test scores as an indicator of whether to let their child attend that school or not? What good could it possibly do? It may be the most ridiculous thing I've heard since the no-child-left-behind fairy tale.

Anywho....it's been a sh*ty day so far. One bright spot was going to the beauty salon. Then it was back to meet with another contractor. Another contractor who doesn't know when he'll be able to get to us and when he'll be able to find enough people to do the jobs he had lined up. C'est la vie -- I guess.