''The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.'' -- Nietzsche
''I have no country to fight for. My country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world.'' -- Eugene V. Debs
Making A Statement
Oct. 31, 2006
Beer Cans For Education
Almost everyone who knows me knows that I collect aluminum cans for a little extra cash to throw at Jake's college fund. It isn't a lot, but I'm out walking anyway, so why not pick up the free money that litters the street, and help the environment at the same time?
After a while, I started calling my can-collecting project "Beer Cans For Education", which of course is a parody of General Mills' program "Box Tops For Education." (More on THAT later in this entry) My little project is going nicely. I found a much better scrap yard than the one that I had been going to. This scrap yard on Keystone called SARCO is the best! I couldn't believe it - to heck with Capitol City Metals from now on! *They pay 11¢ more a pound at SARCO *If I had gone tomorrow (I'll know next time!), on Wednesdays they pay 2¢ more per pound! *They don't deduct anything for "moisture content" like Capitol City Metals does (so you're actually getting slightly MORE than 11¢ per pound at SARCO) *They are POLITE and FRIENDLY! They addressed me as "Ma'am" and later by my first name after I had given them my ID (new city ordinance that you have to show ID to sell scrap - cuts down on theft). *They are KID-FRIENDLY! At Capitol City Metals, you have to leave anyone under 18 in the car while they're weighing you out (the car never left my sight, before any mommies who read this think I abandoned my kid in the car, lol) At SARCO, I can take Jake out of the car seat, because he cries if I'm not in the car with him. I took him up to the counter (THEY HAVE A COUNTER!) as I was being weighed out. The forklift drivers even waved to him and made goofy faces at him. It was great! *The yard is much cleaner (it's a scrap yard; there is still mud, but not like the get-your-car-stuck mud pit at Capitol City Metals) *The lady in the office when I was getting paid offered a lollipop to Jake (I politely declined; he's still much too young!)
SARCO is my new scrap yard. Now I know why everybody goes there...come to think of it, I don't know why anybody would go to Capitol City Metals (I suppose unless you're one of the homeless stew bums that lives near there under the I-65 overpass...lol!)
OH - and as promised, more on Box Tops For Education....apparently, the woman whose duties as coordinator that I took over, still thinks she's the coordinator...and I confirmed with L. and G. that that was what they had said two meetings ago, that I was a coordinator for Box Tops For Education. She refuses to give me the login information for the website and we missed the deadline because she didn't tell me anything, so we have to wait until April to receive our check. I don't know what I'm going to do about this, I hate being stuck in the middle of drama like this, and it is true that S. wants ME to do all the work while she just has her name as coordinator so that she can receive the check. I was warned that she has control issues. ACK. SPEAKING OF BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION: ANOTHER RANT!!! Shame on you people who sell Box Tops For Education on Ebay! How dare you capitalize on the fact that our public schools are underfunded and desperately need money? That's half the reason we want to homeschool - because public education as a whole has declined so much in the last 50 years it is incredible. I remember my grandfather being SHOCKED when I was a kid that I was not being taught current events. And it hasn't gotten any better. They continue to make budget cuts at public schools to the point where teachers are forced to buy chalk out of their own pockets (and their pay goes down! So teachers are less motivated to do a good job teaching kids!) It is a vicious cycle. And I think you people who sell BTFE on EBAY are just wrong. I'm actually hesitant to post this here because I'm afraid someone I know who may or may not be reading this, whose initials are the same as Mark Twain's, might be tempted to try it. To the parents that are buying those off ebay for your school, please consider donating that amount to your school instead of bidding on these auctions. To the people that are selling them: if you won't use them, try handing them to a kid at a bus stop. They'll know what to do with them.
That is just weird! Why on earth would anyone want to buy them? I can't believe people are SELLING them, but I find it even harder to believe anyone would BUY them! Seems like it would make MUCH more sense to just donate that money directly to the school! Cut out the middle man....
Visit my Myspace page, too! http://www.myspace.com/mrsmaintenance
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I believe in homeschooling from birth on. From the day my son was born, I've done everything I can to teach him about how the world works. Life is school. Learning is life.
Feb. 14, 2007 - Box tops on ebay?