Utah Fails IQ Test

So the results came in yesterday and the people's voice was heard. Vouchers lost with 62 percent of the vote in opposition to the controversial referendum. I found it interesting that the most outspoken person from last night's election was Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com CEO. I can't believe some of the crap he came out with last night. Take a look for yourself.

From the Salt Lake Tribune
Voucher supporter Overstock.com chief executive Patrick Byrne - who bankrolled the voucher effort - called the referendum a "statewide IQ test" that Utahns failed.

"They don't care enough about their kids. They care an awful lot about this system, this bureaucracy, but they don't care enough about their kids to think outside the box," Byrne said.

From the Deseret News
"I'm ashamed of Utah that this could even be a close vote," said Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, who has donated millions of dollars to support vouchers. "This is parents looking at their kids getting a third-rate education and other kids getting basically a death sentence and saying, 'That's OK by me."

Just so you know, I'll never shop at Overstock.com again.

Lost in the all the school voucher debate was another local vote to disband the Jordan School District into two separate districts: East side and West side. There's one big problem with yesterday's vote, only the East side got to vote. Naturally, they chose to disband the district and let the West side deal with their own building and growth.

I can't believe how elitist the East side of the valley has become. Rather than recognizing that all areas have population peaks and valleys, they've decided that since their kids are grown up, let the West side family pay for their kids to go to school. I don't know what this is going to mean to all my friends who teach in the defunct Jordan School District, but I think this is a real black mark on our community.

I Voted, Barely

Even though it was a very lean year for local elections, there was only two things to vote on for residents of Holladay, I was determined to get out and vote against school vouchers. I had a fairly limited window of time to vote before I had to go to Bishopric Meeting tonight. Of course, everything worked against me casting my ballot.

Taking the bus home was another one of those kinds of bus trips. The bus arrived 15 minutes late and it seemed like every stop slowed our progress. I was about 5 minutes from the polling place when the bus inexplicably stoppped. It appears that a passenger boarded the bus and needed the driver to help him figure out his trip. Ninety percent of the drivers would tell this guy that it's his problem, but my driver stopped the bus, pulled out her schedules, and spent about 10 minutes helping the guy to find his way. I can't believe I'm complaining about a caring bus driver, but we were already late and we were getting later by the minute.

I ran into the elementary school and entered the polling room...and stood in a twenty person line. The lines were divided according to the alphabet A-M in one line, N-Z in the other. There was one person in the other line, as I stood and waited for my fellow A-M voters. About 15 minutes lated I finally got my voting card and cast my two votes. It may have been at the last moment, but I Voted!

Walking Man

Alex is officially walking. It started about the second week of October, as he would take a cautious step or two. Now it's caution to the wind as Alex Boy races around the house. Sure, he'll still drop into the occasional "commando crawl" when he's unsure of his footing outside, but he's decided that he likes being bipedal a lot more.

To celebrate his new found skills, Tara bought the little guy his first sneakers and they are awesome. There's something about seeing really tiny shoes and wondering just how impossible it is that they actually fit on real feet. Alex never liked shoes as a baby, but as a walking man they are essential daily attire.

Halloween Hangover

I'm still suffering the effects of Halloween this year. I think it's because we had fewer trick or treaters but we still managed to buy the same amount of candy. Guess who's been taking care of the leftovers. I can't let it go to waste, can I? I'm just glad that today is Fast Sunday so I can purge the system of everything fun size.

Two random thoughts about the daylights savings change this year:

Pro - I loved that daylight savings came after Halloween this year. It was great to take the kids out after 6 pm and still have it dusk outside. I think this was a big win.

Con - I was so excited to get my extra hour of sleep this morning, then I realized that daylight savings doesn't mean the kids are going to sleep in. We were still up at 7 err 6, or whatever it was. Oh well, maybe they'll go to bed earlier tonight.

5 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

Since I have 30 days to write about various topics, I thought today I'd mention 5 things most people probably don't know about me. Think of this as your chance to get up close and personal with me.

One of favorite movies (I'm really coming out of the closet on this one) is The Bridges of Madison County. I think it's one of the best love stories around. The lead characters aren't a young couple drawn together by lust, rather they are a pair deeply committed to one another after only a few short days together. The scene when Meryl Streep has her hand on the door latch and debates about jumping out of truck to run to Clint is so heart wrenching! Many people know that I like Clint Eastwood movies, but I'm sure you didn't know this was one of them.

Another hidden passion is Sex and the City reruns on TBS. I can't get enough of that show. I think it was one of the best written sitcoms that deal with real issues and some things that never get talked about on TV. Now remember I watch the edited versions on cable, so before you judge remember that it's TV-14 and not R.

I hate this habit but I still crack my knuckles. I know, it's gross and I wish I didn't do it, but I haven't been able to quit. If any of you have suggestions on how to stop let me know.

One of my favorite cereals is Quaker Oatmeal Squares. It's not one that most people have tried, and they're missing out. I tend to like more "grown up" cereals (ones that don't have marshmallows) and this is a hidden treat. I guess I should also fess up that Tara usually buys it at The Store That Cannot be Named becasue it costs half as much. It kills me that's where we get it from, but I need my Quaker Oatmeal Squares fix...

Every week I listen to Green Day American Idiot while I'm mowing the lawn. I know that they use some pretty adult language, but the riffs and lryics in this album are incredible. I think one of the best songs on the album is Whatshername. What a classic song about breaking up and moving on. The fact I listen to Green Day may not surprise most of you, but I thought you should know that I listen to more than U2.

So, there you go, I've opened myself up in the blog. I plan to share many more shocking revelations over the next 30 days so don't be surprised when I write about more of my hidden passions.