Good grief -The Lime Bomber?

"Union song, union battle..."

I think most people would agree that their children are among the most important things to them. Many, many people entrust the public school system to care for their children for 6 or more hours every day, often more than half of a particular child's hours awake. And for the most part, these children are safe while they are in school and we can hope that they are learning something.

Many parents would say that they are pleased with their children's education (and many would not be pleased...depending on where they were living), but they recognize that the people responsible for their children during the school day carry a tremendous burden.

And still, the salaries of public school teachers are, frankly, disturbing and embarrassing. In many towns and cities, teachers are not paid enough to live in the communities where they teach.

Teachers teach lessons, plan lessons, grade papers, conduct assessments, prepare students for mandated tests, maintain order in the classroom, cultivate an atmosphere of respect and discipline, monitor the emotional and physical health of their students, model a love of learning, share their own experiences and continue to gain more knowledge with an eye towards helping more children.

For this, which requires, more than anything else, a passion and a commitment, my town says we do not deserve a raise of any sort (not even for cost-of-living) and that they will not negotiate a new contract for us.

But I believe that we have some power in our union and we are not going to accept the town's suggestion that we are simply "cogs in a wheel", easily replaced by someone else and not worthy of even a respectable wage.

Ok, time to hop off my soapbox and wrap some holiday gifts!

Kate, Kate, she wears rollerskates!

Well, she doesn't actually wear rollerskates, but she's fun and she finally came to visit her old pals in Boston. It was great to see her and enjoy dinner with her and Scott at Matt Murphy's and then get some esoteric beers at Anam Cara.

Come back anytime, Kate! And we'll try to get our butts out to the "Twin Cities" one of these days.

Are you a music nerd? (Note: this is different from a "band fag")

It's that time of year again - The Onion's Least Essential Albums of 2003. Funny stuff.

Finally, a Nor'Easter that lived up to its billing (yes, this links to pics). I'm still shoveling the driveway!

This article makes a very good case for getting your flu shot. Of course, as someone who makes vaccines for a living, I may be biased.

Ann and I were excited to catch the 20th Anniversary of Phish show last night at the FleetCenter. It was a great show, especially the video retrospective of Phish's career. Ten years ago this month I saw my first Phish show. The anniversaries put me into a reflective mood before the show and I thought of all that has happened to me since:

• I graduated High School, got into College and graduated College
  
• I took the PSAT, the SAT, 3 SAT-IIs and the GRE
  
• I've drank beers ranging from <1$ a can to $125 Sam Adams Utopias
  
• I've had 4 different cars to call my own
  
• I've had 7 different jobs
  
• I've bought 100 CDs, nearly all of them because of some close or not-so-close relationship to Phish
  
• I've seen 44 Phish shows
  
• I collected about 300 Phish tapes, and about 75 CDs
  
• I went from hoping and praying that my latest post would get into the r.m.p. digest, to being the person who decides what posts go in the digest
  
• And most importantly, I met Ann, got engaged, and got married
  

The first words that Ann ever said to me were "Whose Phish sticker is that?" noticing the classic green Phish logo sticker on my freshman dormroom door. Phish was already an obsession; after all that has followed those five words from Ann, Phish will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you Trey, Mike, Page and Jon.