Did you ever play Chicken with your friends? Maybe you dared them in an athletic contest; maybe in a drinking contest. One thing is for certain, there is ALWAYS A LOSER.

To me, this is exactly what the Cheshire Board of Education is doing with education in this town-PLAYING CHICKEN!!

Yes, betting the other side (the teachers union) will back down and concede the 4.4 percent raises they received over the next few years. What if the union doesn’t concede? Who will be the loser?? THE STUDENTS!!

They will see programs cut, school buildings deteriorate even further and possibly an exodus from this town of people who came here and put down roots in an effort to secure their children, the most important thing in their lives-a decent education.

Now I happened to read the spin doctor (Herald) on Thursday. I have an online subscription.I read  their take on the education budget and the senior tax freeze article-(you have to remember, the senior tax freeze in this town WAS NOT WANTED BY THE POWERS THAT BE WHEN IT WAS FIRST PROPOSED) WHY?? Because some of the people that run this town were AFRAID poor elderly would move into Cheshire en masse that is WHY!!

Of course this did not happen-and would not happen. All they had to do (which they did, but is NOT REQUIRED) is to set income limits. You know, I am surprised the “Welcome to Cheshire” sign doesn’t have a picture of a stomach with an ulcer in it!!

CRIPES!!

ALL THESE PEOPLE DO IS WORRY!! WORRY ABOUT THIS AND THAT AND THEIR IMAGE AND THE IMPACT OF THIS AND THAT!!

OH GROW UP AND GET OVER IT!!

Now we have a big problem in this town and I believe we are headed down a VERY DIFFICULT ROAD.  My spouse came up with some sort of solution but the Board ignored it,just like the article on the Senior Tax Freeze I am not mentioned in it at all and I spoke!!

WHY DID THEY IGNORE THE STAR??

Let me tell you, it isn’t easy being the bastard child of Cheshire-I feel like I was in that movie “Flowers in Attic” except my “attic” is Cheshire!!

And of course, I am sure the powers that be in this town will really be calling me a bastard after I again spout out about Elim Park and this gift account.

Now look-it is NOT PERSONAL!! The bottom line-this “account” needs to be given to the TOWN and distributed as they see fit. ALL departments should  benefit. The economy is in the toilet, the state is “broke” (but you would never know it by reading that Sunlight website).  I bet our schools could use some of this Gift Account money for infrastructure instead of  purchasing sandwiches and ice cream!!

I always know when I hit the mark when I see a “spin doctor” article in the Herald about the very same subject I have spoken about in my blog.

This week it is YES OUR FAVE SUBJECT=THE GIFT ACCOUNT!!

I am NOT begrudging anyone anything-but we have to get real here and stop insulting peoples intelligence. THIS TOWN NEEDS THIS TAX MONEY-ALL OF IT!!

Now the Herald was saying the because of Elim Parks “religious affiliation” they are tax exempt. I DON’T AGREE AND I BELIEVE I FOUND AN ARTICLE THAT BACKS UP WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING. The religious (Church/Chapel) part of Elim Park is tax exempt, but I strongly believe the assisted living is NOT!!

E.P. is already acknowledging they need to pay taxes when they give this “gift” or donation if you will. And I will state now, I believe all of these religious affiliation entities need to be re-examined by the IRS. If nursing homes or assisted living facilities with religious affilations are making a profit and accepting GOVERNMENT FUNDING aka Medicaid-then they ARE NOT EXEMPT!!

I believe churches, mosques synagoges and temples are-they are buildings where people conduct religious activities. A nursing home or someones assisted living facility should NOT BE INCLUDED IN THIS DEFINITION. I believe the article I am linking to you  here does a real good job of explaining this situation.

I really believe it will come to the point where ALL COMMUNITIES throughout the U.S. will be re-examining who or what is non profit and tax exempt because of the state of the economy. Everyone community is scrambling for cash-we need to explore all the options and many unpopular decisions WILL SOON HAVE TO BE MADE!!

I did run the Police Gift Account ledger for 08/09/. And to balance things out-I have asked for the Fire Department Gift Account ledger. I HOPE to receive it by next Tuesday. I know the town is in the middle of the budget but it should not take over a week to get this info.

I noticed the police chief said he wanted to spend money from the 2010 gift account fixing up the SWAT team van.

WHY?? WHEN IS IT USED?? OR YOU KNOW WHAT-LET ME REPHRASE THAT-WHEN WILL THE TOWN LET THE SWAT VAN BE USED???

I really think the town should, like they do with our fire apparatus, rent out our SWAT TEAM and VAN to other towns. This way they could put their training to the utmost potential. These people train and then -OH NEVER MIND-THIS REALLY BOTHERS ME-I DON’T WANT TO ELABORATE ON IT ANYMORE.

Here is a good article from an upstate New York town that seems to have the same problem as we do with public safety expenditures:

Click HERE

I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY TWO YEARS AGO. SO SAD!! AND I REALLY FEEL SORRY FOR THE RESPONDERS WHO COULDN’T RESPOND. I hear talk all the time about it-”Oh wait until the trial-it will hit the fan”

It makes me FEEL BAD!! IT REALLY DOES. I am glad I won’t be here anymore because I don’t think I could take it.

Here is the article “Religious Freedom vs tax exemptions.

Also: Commercial Tax Exemptions for Church Businesses.

I have an issue with my left eye which is hurting me intensely. I have worn contact lenses for 31 years and my left eye is starting to act up. It gets very dry and irritated so I now have to put drops in and wear my $500 Prada glasses-YEP nothing but the best for MOI!!

P.S.-I paid for them myself-NO GIFT ACCOUNT!!

But seriously-I do have these “ghost veins” in my left eye. I have always had them except now they are filling with blood and threaten to grow over my cornea which could be a problem-like I will see “veins” all the time if it continues. I don’t know-I guess I will have to give up my contacts which I really really love. I hate glasses-you can’t really see correctly-no peripheral vision, they fog up they scratch-UGH!!

The doctor said maybe I could wear them once in a while. I hope so. I really love contact lenses but I played chicken with my eyesight and now it is paying me back. I guess I LOST!!

I am going to rerun that “Montreal Tourisme-Leisure” video. A reader wanted to see it again. This is such a GREAT VIDEO about a GREAT CITY AND IT REALLY CAPTURES THE SPIRIT OF MONTREAL.

The video captures Bonsecour Market, Jean Talon Market, The Old Port-Science Center, Habitat  67 Little Italy, Lachine Canal, St. Joseph’s Oratory which is the second largest church dome in the world. The first is St. Peters Basilica in Rome; so many sites. Montreal has over 500,000 college students. Just in my son’s block when he lived on Maisonneuve Bld near Concordia University, there were 30,000 people alone-(the size of Cheshire)!!

Montreal is SAFE!! The city has approximately 3.6 milllion residents. The murder rate for 2009 was 31. Honestly, most of the murders are not random.

They do have a car theft problem though so if you drive there-don’t take a real showy expensive car and park in a garage or a monitored lot (approx $18 a day Canadian). YOU WILL BE TICKETED BASICALLY ON THE SPOT IF YOU PARK WHERE YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO OR THE METER RUNS OUT. THEY HAVE CAMERAS EVERYWHERE TO MONITOR THE PARKING. AND GUESS WHAT?? THE TRAFFIC COURT IS IN FRENCH ONLY!! DON’T CALL ME!!

Habitat 67 built for  Expo 67 are condominiums and I believe the cheapest is around $300,000 Canadian. Most rents are very reasonable they start at around $700 Canadian.  The famous “underground city” runs for 20 miles!!  Those tall metal structures towards the end of the video where you see the cars going by fast ( the video is sped up) are actually STREET LIGHTS!! If you get a chance this summer-because the winters are nice but brutally cold-please visit Montreal. Just get on 91 north and KEEP GOING to the US/Canadian border. Then take 10 OUEST (WEST) and you end up in Centreville (Downtown-near those streetlights).

I start crying when I see this video-especially the last minute or so.

Enjoy.

Montreal-Tourisme: Leisure